Always and Forever
by SoTimeless
Summary: She awakens his soul, plants fire in his heart, brings peace to his mind. With her he wants to lose himself but without her he finds himself wanting to become lost again. He loves her in this way because he does not know any other. Together they struggled and fought but was their love strong enough to forget the war, to live through it, to be free once again? Their kids find out.
1. Chapter 1- Story time

**Always and forever**

**Chapter 1- Story Time**

**Disclaimer: I have not ever owned Harry Potter, I do not own Harry Potter, and I won't ever own it either.**

**There are a few things that I have changed about Draco and Astoria for this story; they have two kids, a boy and a girl. Scorpius is two years older than his sister Emily. Astoria is in the same year as Draco at Hogwarts. Daphne and Astoria are cousins, Daphne is Astoria's Uncles daughter and Astoria has an elder brother Orion who is in Fred's and George's year.**

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It was the morning of 25th December, 2025. The sky was covered with dark grey clouds. Snow was falling on the ground. The temperature outside was below minus ten degree Celsius. Draco groaned. He placed one arm over his eyes to block the light coming from the window. Suddenly he realized something; Astoria was not next to him when he woke up. He looked around the room and started desperately calling her name.

"Astoriaaaaaaa! Where are you?" he heard no voices. Now Draco was pissed. He wanted to wake up holding Astoria in his arms. Kissing her gently on her beautiful lips and then proceed kissing her everywhere until she wakes up giggling like a little girl. He wanted to make love to her first thing in the morning, considering it as one of his Christmas presents to her. But no, she was nowhere to be found.

"Astoria!" he shrieked at the top of his voice.

"Yeah Draco, coming." Astoria yelled but in a more soft and pleasant tone.

He sighed happily. Placing his hands below his head he waited. It had been 22 years since Astoria and Draco had got married and they loved each other more than anything in the entire world.

Astoria entered their room. She was wearing a blue silk night dress, her beautiful black hair tumbling down her back and a lovely smile on her face. Draco sits up and grins at her. She grins back and comes towards his side of the bed and sits next to him. But Draco, well lets just say he had other plans. He pulled Astoria on top of him so that she is sitting on his lap. Astoria and Draco did a great job maintaining them. They still look the same as they used to before they got married.

Astoria blushes a little but before she could say anything. Draco started kissing her neck and collarbone. Astoria moaned and said, "Draco not now, please. There's a surprise waiting for you downstairs." Draco grins evilly, giving her one of his seductive looks before crashing his lips on hers. Astoria forgets all about the surprise and started kissing him back with equal enthusiasm.

THUD

"OH MY GOD! My eyes!" Scorpius and Emily ran downstairs shouting after walking in on their parents in a vulnerable position. Astoria glares at Draco. He looks at her and before they know it, they started laughing hard, so hard that they both fell out of bed onto the floor.

"Draco! I told you, but no you won't listen to me, seriously baby I don't think our kids will be able to look in our eyes now. Or probably ever."

"Good!" Astoria glared at him. "Astoria what are they doing here? I thought Scorpius was spending his Christmas with Rose and Emily with Neil."

"Change of plans, Draco." Astoria said stroking his hair.

"Dammit! What about our plans together in bed? All day long" Draco stared at Astoria with a very cute pout on his lips.

Astoria smiled, "The plans are for the night and…" she trailed one down his chest and then back, " I am going grocery shopping with Hermione and Ginny, you know I have to prepare dinner for all of you. So, you can spend some quality time with the kids."

"Fine!" Draco said. Before Astoria could move towards their cupboard, Draco grabbed her wrists and pulled her towards the bathroom.

"Draco! What are you doing?" she asked narrowing her eyes.

"Oh, nothing just I am going to make love to you, right now. So take off your clothes, woman and get in the shower," he smirked and followed her in the bathroom.

After taking a bath Draco and Astoria went downstairs where Scorpius and Emily were sitting on the couch in front of the fire watching muggle television. Astoria was still red from their act and Draco was just smirking at his wife.

"Mum, Dad! Happy Christmas!" Both of them shouted loudly and hugged their parents.

After having pancakes for breakfast they all sat down together and had a lovely family chat. Draco was the first one to ask his kids a question after which he received a glare from Astoria, "What are you both doing here? I thought you both were going to celebrate Christmas with your lovers," Draco chuckled after thinking about what he had asked his kids. Both of them were quite surprised by their father's sudden question. Scorpius was the first one to reply, "We just wanted to spend some time with you. Its true that I love Rose but you are still my parents and I'll always love you both." Draco regretted asking this question as soon as he heard Scorpius reply but not because of his answer but after seeing Astoria all tearing up and kissing Scorpius and Emily on their heads along with a bone crushing hug which Draco absolutely loved.

It was soon two O'clock and Astoria was getting ready to go shopping with Hermione and Ginny. Draco still couldn't believe that he ended up being friends with Potter, Weasley, Granger, Longbottom and many others. Astoria came downstairs and moved towards the sofa to kiss Draco softly on the lips. Emily always loved to see her parents kiss each other. She hadn't told anyone this but she wished that Neil also loves her as much as her father loved her mother. Scorpius on the other hand always used to gag whenever he saw his parents kissing but when he fell in love with Rose he secretly wish to marry her one day and love her as much as his parents did each other.

Emily suddenly spoke something that made Draco and Astoria blush like hell. She asked, "Mum, Dad how did you meet? How did you fall in love?"

Astoria looked at Draco and saw hesitation in his eyes. The story of how they ended up marrying each other was quite sensitive to both of them. But as the question has been raised therefore it became their duty as parents to tell their children what they wanted to know.

Astoria nodded towards Draco and smirked. She loved Draco, there was no doubt in that but after the war everything had changed along with Draco. Both of them were victims of constant nightmares, after the war. It was when they had finally started dating, they finally subsided. Draco was always in love with Astoria, though it took him a lot of time to understand his feelings and confess it to her but when he did he had never felt happier. He had a past which he hated and Astoria knew every single detail about it. His kids knew he had been a death eater but not the entire story. It was finally time to tell them from the very beginning when he first met Astoria.

Astoria finally spoke after a few minutes of silence, "Of course, Draco will tell you everything."

Draco scowled, "Yes, I will but promise me you both won't hate me after I tell what I had seen inside the manor and what they made me do," he spoke reluctantly.

"We won't hate you dad we love you, "Scorpius and Emily smiled at his father and mother.

Astoria was practically jumping up and down with excitement, "You both are going to hear something awesome. Let me tell you something when I first met your father I hated him, but well who knew I would one day marry that son of a bitch."

"I hate you," Draco spat.

Astoria grinned and said, "You love me!"

"Dammit!" he explained and then kissed Astoria on the cheek. "Anyways, Tori you had to meet your friends remember. I'll tell them the story ,you go. Shoo!"

"Alright, alright. But don't tell them all rubbish but the actual story," she said sternly.

"You sure?" Draco asked, innocently.

"Yes! Okay then, bye see you all in a few hours." Astoria stepped out of the house and waved towards them before disapparating to Diagon Alley.

Draco closed the door and clapped his hands together, "Lets begin from the very beginning and I don't want any of you to interrupt me is that clear."

Scorpius and Emily nodded.

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**In the next chapter I'll start the story. **

**Please comment. Thank you. **


	2. Chapter 2- The Past

**Chapter 2- The Past**

**Disclaimer: I have not ever owned Harry Potter, I do not own Harry Potter, and I won't ever own it either.**

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The Greengrass family was one of the twenty eight pureblood families in Britain. In the 1930's when the 'Pure-Blood Directory' was published anonymously in Britain with 'the aim of helping such families maintain the purity of their bloodlines'. The so-called 'Sacred Twenty-Eight'. The Greengrass family lived in their huge manor which had been passed down by the head of the family to the son or son-in-law which they saw was worthy enough to live in the manor standing on the ground for more than two centuries. Perseus Greengrass, the only son of Lipon Greengrass who had inherited the manor from his father, and Vega Greengrass (nee` Selwyn) had two sons, Corvus and Cepheus. Corvus was two years older than Cepheus. The Greengrass family like any other pureblood family considered themselves superior than the others, especially the muggleborns. They considered muggleborns as the people who had stolen magic from people belonging to the pureblood background. They hated them. But Cepheus was different than the others. He was fascinated by muggles. He considered them as his equals and was extremely disgusted by his family's beliefs.

When Corvus attended Hogwarts for his first year, it left Cepheus alone at home. He used to walk around his town, fascinated by the things the muggles had invented to help themselves as they didn't have any magical ability. He befriended a boy in town named Louis. They used to play around a lot. But Louis' family had to leave town when his father was transferred to another town.

Finally it was time for Cepheus to attend Hogwarts. He was extremely excited. He wanted to be in Slytherin like his brother because of his parent's horrific threat to be disinherited by them and also because he wanted to see the black lake from his common room. On reaching Hogwarts he was sorted in Slytherin which made him happy but he became even happier by seeing the delicious food in front of him.

After finishing his first year he had made a few friends from other houses but none from Slytherin. His brother had a number of people following him as his minions but he had no real friends. Corvus believed in power. He wanted to work in the ministry of magic just like his father. But Cepheus just wanted to have a great time with his friends, not much bothering about his studies.

As time passed by Corvus reached his fifth year and Cepheus his fourth. Corvus was busy studying for his owls and finally taking time to think about the department he wanted to work in the ministry. He decided that the Department of ministries would be best for him. Cepheus on the other hand enjoyed getting attention from the all the ladies in school. He had beautiful black hair which was as soft as silk, which he got from his mother. He was extremely handsome man even more than his brother. He was in the Slytherin Quidditch team and played as a beater. Cepheus always tried to look his best and this was particularly for one girl. She was a year younger to him and was in Gryffindor. Cepheus was well aware about the Slytherin and Gryffindor rivalry but he didn't care. He just wanted to be her friend. He wanted to talk to her, make her laugh, take her on walks around the lake and to be with her. Her name was Margaret Hannigan.

He finally got the courage to talk to her after her Herbology class. He saw her talking to a friend Janet Thomson. She was absolutely beautiful with her dark brown hair and pale complexion. She was not the most beautiful girl in school but for Cepheus she was the most beautiful girl on this planet. He knew Margaret was a muggleborn and his family will never approve of her but still he wanted to try his luck. He had asked her to accompany him to the next hogsmeade trip. She was reluctant at first but she agreed to go with him. After their trip he felt something inside him, a feeling he had never experienced. It was love. He told himself a million times that how can something like this happen only after one date but his heart had other plans.

In Cepheus' seventh year and Margaret's sixth year he finally proposed her. She was telling him about her owl results, she had received outstanding in every subject and was overjoyed by it. She told him that her father had gifted her with a bicycle, about which he had no idea. He was not able to bear all those feelings in his heart any longer. He wanted to tell her and so it just slipped out of his mouth. He had asked her to be his girlfriend. She just stared at him, trying to understand whether what she had heard, with her deep blue eyes. He sat down on his knees, held both her hands and lightly kissed them, he had never kissed her on her lips but he wanted to. He stood up looking into her eyes and finally said, "I love you." He saw tears in her eyes but didn't know whether she was crying because she was happy or was she just embarrassed of him. She stood on her toes and kissed him softly on his lips. She looked directly into his eyes and said, "I love you too" It was all he wanted to hear and without caring who was around him he kissed her. He told her how he had loved her since their first hogsmeade trip together.

After graduating from Hogwarts Cepheus decided that he also wanted to work in the Ministry of Magic. He started his work in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. After Margaret graduated from Hogwarts she also started her work in the Ministry of Magic in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office. She started her work under the guidance of Mr Arthur Weasley and kept asking her about the different object the muggles used as both her parents were muggles.

Cepheus knew that his parents will know about his love with a girl who his parents thought were unworthy to take the Greengrass name. Cepheus had a long fight with his parents about it and in the end he decided he was not going to live any longer in their huge house, where there was no love and people were only power hungry.

After working at the Ministry for more two years he asked Margaret to marry him. She was very happy with everything especially on the fact that she will have the most loving man as her husband. Margaret's parents supported both of them a lot; they considered Cepheus as their son and loved him as much as they loved Margaret. They had a small wedding with not more than twenty five guests which included Arthur and Molly Weasley, the only member of Cepheus' family who was present there was Corvus with his pureblooded wife Beth. Together they bought a small house to live in, they had fully dropped the idea of living in a big house because Cepheus had bad memories regarding that aspect and wanted that in the future his kids loved him not only as a father but also as a friend, he wanted a to have a bond with his kids unlike his father.

When Margaret told that she was pregnant Cepheus was extremely happy, so happy that he picked her up in bridle style and twirled her all around their bedroom, she was giggling and laughing they were very happy. Orion had been born, Cepheus wanted to be a good father figure for his son, he never had one so he was a bit scared but Margaret believed in him. They used undetectable extension charms to make room in their small house for the new born baby. Orion looked a bit like Cepheus but had Margaret's dark brown hair.

Two years later Margaret was pregnant, a girl was in her womb this time. With the You-know-who becoming more powerful they were scared for their baby. Cepheus used all kind of charms to protect his home from death eaters. The most shocking thing that he had heard was that his father and mother were death eaters too, helping the dark lord. Cepheus was disgusted to call them his parents and he pledged that he would die protecting his family but will never join you-know-who. The times became even darker; all of them did not dare to leave the house.

The war did not help Margaret with her increasing contractions, going out of the house was not an option and Cepheus was too petrified to do anything, he had sent a message to St Mungo's but there was no response, it had been almost fifteen minutes and saw his wife shrieking with pain. The only thing that he could do was to hold her hand and rub her head. Orion was sleeping in his bed unaware of everything around him. Cepheus saw the two women he loved more than anything in his life fighting for their life, his wife and daughter. At that moment he heard someone standing at his chimney, it was a healer. She rushed towards Margaret and making her drink a potion to lessen the pain. Cepheus was holding Margaret's hand when the healer smiled at them telling them that the baby's head was coming out and asked Margaret to push. Finally after few minutes of tension in their bedroom they finally heard the baby's first cry. Their baby girl was now in this world. Margaret was smiling, extremely happy to see her beautiful daughter. The healer placed the baby in Cepheus' hands. He started crying after seeing her. She was so beautiful and was sleeping peacefully in her daddy's arms. Margaret took the baby in her arms and kissed her on the head while Cepheus went in Orion's room to bring him to meet his little sister. The little boy of merely two years old walked towards his mother and saw a little angel sleeping in her arms.

He looked at his mother and asked, "Mummy who is this baby?"

Margaret glanced at her husband, smiled and with a nod asked her husband to sit next to her. Cepheus obliged, wrapping her arms around her shoulders while she laid her head on his shoulders. She finally spoke, "This baby is your little sister Orion"

"Little sister!" Orion explained, clearly surprised.

"Yes! And you are her elder brother therefore it is your duty as a brother to protect your sister, okay."

"Waoh! I'm an elder brother, that means now I have a resp… respo…ible"

"Responsible, Yes" Cepheus looked kissed his son on his head and hugged his wife, son and daughter. It seemed that everything was normal again but it wasn't but he didn't want to remember, at such a happy moment in his life, something horrible.

"Mummy what is her name?"

"Astoria. Astoria Greengrass. It that name okay honey?"

Cepheus shook his head, kissed her softly on her lips and said, "It's perfect love, it's absolutely perfect." He looked at his daughter, she had black hair like him but the eyes deep blue just like Margaret. He loved the way his life had turned out and now he had a family, the decision to leave his father's house and marrying Margaret was the best he had ever made. He loved the three wonderful people in his life and even though a war was going on his life had never been much better.

A year later you-know-who was destroyed by none other than Harry Potter, the boy who lived. Everyone everywhere was celebrating, making a toast for the boy who lived. When Cepheus entered his room he saw Margaret crying, he sat next to her and asked her that at a time of celebration why she was crying. She looked at him and told him that even though you-know-who had been defeated but he killed Harry's mom and dad. She told him that she knew Lilly Potter (nee` Evans). She was her neighbor. They used to play together in their garden before she departed for Hogwarts. Cepheus looked at her wife and kissed her on the head and held her tight. He loves her a lot and no matter what he pledged that he would never let her wife and kids feel unsafe. He will protect them forever.

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"Wow" explained Emily, "I didn't know grandpa was so cool and I can't believe great grandpa disowned him, I mean, what the hell was wrong with him and dad was mum that pretty even when she was born? And was uncle Orion was devilishly handsome when he was two years old?"

"Yes and yes" Draco grinned, "Your mother was extremely beautiful even when she was born, I have seen her pictures believe me I'm not lying."

"Dad, did Grandpa Lucius did not have any problem when he received the information that mum was not a pureblood and still you wanted to marry her?"

"I'm getting to that Scorp…"

"And why didn't you tell us about the time when you were born?"

"I didn't tell you because your grandparents haven't told me, I've asked them but they say they can't just tell me, 'Its personal'" Draco quoted. He continued, "But your grandma did say that when I was born all I was very handsome." Draco grinned. Scorpius and Emily laughed.

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**I know not much has been told about them but the past was necessary for the story to move. For anyone who has not noticed but for my story Astoria is a half-blood.**

**In the next chapter there will Draco and Astoria will finally meet. **

**Please comment. Thank You. **


	3. Chapter 3- First Sight

**Chapter 3- First Sight**

**Disclaimer: I have not ever owned Harry Potter, I do not own Harry Potter, and I won't ever own it either.**

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7 years later….

After the war was over Cepheus had bought a new home which a little bigger than their previous house. Astoria and Orion had grown a lot. Their parents loved both of them equally. They didn't have a lot of money but they had enough money to buy necessary things. Margaret had decided to quit her job, for the time being, to look after her kids. Cepheus knew how much she loved her job but she refused to hire a nanny, plus it was quite expensive too. She loved staying home with the kids. Taking them to muggle parks, so they could socialize with them. She even took them to some fast food restaurants where they ate pizza and burgers with French fries and drank Coca cola.

Margaret used to take Astoria and Orion to the Burrow. Astoria was a very good friend of Ginny and Ron, who was about her age perhaps a few months older. Astoria really liked Fred and George too, she thought they were really funny and fun to be around. Orion was a friend of Fred and George and used to take part in all their pranks whether they were on their brothers or sister or even his own sister. All three of them always used to get a loud shout from Mrs Weasley, every time they did some kind of prank.

Every morning the whole family sat at the dining table eating breakfast, pancakes with maple syrup, it was everyone's favorite. Orion and Cepheus used to talk about the Quidditch match between especially the one which involved either the Holy Head Harpies or the Chudley Cannons or Puddlemere United. They both supported Puddlemere United, it was their favorite team. Astoria also liked Quidditch but was more interested in the food in front of her. She loved food especially the one her mum used to make. She had a friend, Patrick, who lived in the muggle neighborhood. They both used to play a lot together. His mum was Margaret's friend. Patrick loved to play cricket and he always used to explain Astoria what was in it, she also wanted to tell him about Quidditch but she had promised her parents that she would never reveal anything to any muggle about the wizarding world. Astoria loved to go to Diagon Alley to visit her favorite shop, Florean Fortescue, to eat her favorite ice cream which was chocolate and raspberry flavoured along with chopped nuts. Astoria, like her mother, loved to read books. She wished to one day buy all the books in Flourish and Blotts though she very well knew that was absolutely impossible because the shop had millions of books.

It was almost seven O'clock and Cepheus had returned home from work, he looked frustrated. Margaret was sure that it was not the work, because he loved it, but something else. She knew Cepheus more than anyone else and was sure he will tell her everything when his temper will subside. At dinner time everyone was quiet, even the kids had noticed their fathers rage when he had come home from the ministry. After five minutes of silence he finally spoke, "Corvus approached me today" he glanced at his wife and continued, "He has invited all of us to Daphne's birthday this weekend."

"WE HATE DAPHNE, dad!" Orion and Astoria shouted at the top of their voice.

Margaret glared at her children, asking them to be quiet. Cepheus relaxed and started laughing. All three of them looked at him, clearly surprised by his behavior. His laughter subsided and he finally spoke, "What would I do without all three of you!" he exclaimed with a huge grin on his face. He looked at the three of them again and just smiled at their confused faces, a few seconds later he spoke, "I know you both don't like Daphne but she is your cousin. We have no choice but to go to the event, filled with arrogant pureblood discussing about how pure their blood is."

"But dad we are not like those purebloods, we are good people, right?" Orion asked his father.

"Of course we are. But we do have to go there; we do not have any other option." Cepheus said with a sigh.

"Darling, I shouldn't go they all will look at me as I am some kind of disgusted creature who has entered their private territory." Margaret said.

Cepheus looked at her wife, this was one more reason why he loved his wife so much, she had so much courage and determination even though his parents had never accepted her, she didn't care, she had a number of people better than his parents to love her and most importantly she had Cepheus and her kids to love. She didn't care about a pureblood party or his brother Corvus she only cared about him. Cepheus leaned in and kissed her on forehead, he looked in her eyes and spoke very softly, "If you won't come with me then I'll also not go, honey. I love you and if they want to invite me to their stupid pureblood event you will accompany me because I need you to survive there. I need you."

Astoria and Orion grinned looking at each other. It was not long time ago when they used to gag when they saw their parents getting all lovey-dovey and romantic but after getting several scolding from their parents and listening to their mother telling them in a raised voice that when they grow up and find someone to love and marry, they were sick of it and had decided to just look away in order to avoid hearing another one of her 'marriage talks' where she just went on and on planning both of their wedding and future spouse. It was just better to avoid such a punishment than to bear it.

Margaret finally saw their kids grinning and backed away, a little, Cepheus noticed the same thing and also backed away. He looked at them and asked, "So, are you both accompanying me and your mother to the party or not, come on it will be like a family outing and probably you both will make some new friends there."

"Fine, we'll go but on one condition." Orion said.

"And exactly what is that one condition?" Margaret asked.

"You both will take us to the new muggle amusement park, I heard they have a roller coaster. It sounds interesting." Orion said with a smug grin plastered on his face.

"Fine" said Cepheus.

"Yay…. Oomph!" Astoria jumped and fell out of her seat in excitement.

Everyone started laughing at that even Astoria; it was a good day.

It was the day of Daphne's birthday. Margaret had gone and bought her a dress. At about six O'clock they were all ready. Cepheus and Orion wore their dress robes. Margaret had worn a beautiful lilac dress that perfectly hugged her beautiful curves making her look absolutely stunning, her beautiful dark brown hair had been tied in a beautiful bun and she was wearing only a drop pearl necklace which Cepheus had bought her when he received his first salary. Cepheus was not able to remove his eyes off her and seeing this she blushed like a teenager. Astoria was wearing a beautiful blue colored dress with a black silk belt in the middle with black ballerina shoes. The dress reached up to her knees. Her mother had brushed Astoria's hair, which was tumbling down her back.

Cepheus had tears in his eyes, seeing his little Astoria in such a pretty dress looking absolutely beautiful, like her mother. It made him to think of her wedding day when he would give her hand in the hands of the man with whom she will fall in love with. If it was his choice he would prevent his daughter from growing up, keeping her safe forever. But it wasn't in his hands, in a matter of few years time Astoria will start getting attracted to the opposite sex. She will have her first kiss, a boyfriend and then a husband. He would not be able to take care of his little warrior anymore because it was only a matter of a few years which will lead to the transformation of his little warrior into a grown woman. He didn't want that day to come, any time soon, but he knew it was only a matter of time till she grows up.

Cepheus loved Orion as much as Astoria, but it was obvious for him as a father to get emotional for his beautiful daughter, Margaret on the other hand was not so emotional on that prospect though. Whenever Cepheus talked to her father he always told him that she was a strong girl not too emotional and her mother had taught her well on how to handle the emotional topics such as weddings. Cepheus saw Orion as his best friend. Orion used to share everything with his father, even the pranks he had played on the muggles in town. Cepheus was never very close to his father but he wanted to be close to his son, he wanted to be his friend.

"Ready" Cepheus asked.

"Yes" Margaret said, while Astoria and Orion nodded.

They apparated outside the Greengrass manor. The house was huge; more like a palace and it was painted white and had several windows. There was a long passage which was surrounded by grass sculptures of the Greengrass ancestors. They reaching the large door at the end of the passage and entered the manor. The party was in the ballroom and they were escorted by a house elf named Lippy. "This way sir" she said. Astoria was amazed after seeing a house elf, she had never seen on before and was curious to know much more about them.

Corvus was standing at the door of the ballroom welcoming his guests to his daughter's birthday party. He saw Cepheus approaching him, with his family. He plastered a fake smile on his face and greeted them, "Hello Cepheus nice to see you….. and your fam… family" he was disgusted by the fact that a filthy mudblood and two half bloods will be attending his daughters party but they were also his family therefore he had to call them.

They all entered the ball room. Astoria was following her parents, she had Daphne's gift in her hand, her mother looked at her and pointed towards Daphne surrounded by a group of girls. Astoria nodded and ran towards Daphne. She went and tapped on Daphne's shoulder, Daphne was very beautiful with her long blonde hair and tall figure. She was of the same age as Astoria. She turned and looked at Astoria, there was feeling of disgust in her stomach but as soon as she saw a present in her hand she smiled at her. Astoria handed her the present and said, "Happy Birthday Daphne." Daphne smiled at her and quickly changed her expression in one filled with anger. Astoria understood that Daphne was asking her to leave so without uttering any other word she went and sat down on a couch in the corner of the room

Suddenly Astoria felt the couch sink a bit telling her that someone person had taken the seat next to her. She looked through the corner of her eyes at the person. It was boy with a very pale complexion and platinum blonde hair. He suddenly looked towards her and saw her looking at him. Astoria averted her gaze towards the other side of the room. With all her courage she looked at him again, frankly she was curious, she saw him still looking at her with a smirk on his face. She felt a pang of curiousness about the boy and simply glared at him. He was quite taken aback by her actions but he simply looked at her with his signature smirk.

She couldn't take it anymore and spat, "What are you staring at?" The boy didn't say anything and looked towards the crowd. She felt a bit of pride in her chest, she had scared a boy and the feeling was just brilliant. She dug out a chocolate frog from her pockets and started opening it. The boy looked at her, again, his eyes wide and said, "Why are you eating a chocolate frog at a party? You have loads of things to eat around here, then why eat a chocolate frog?"

"Do you mind? I like eating chocolate frogs and I eat them to collect these cards" she said.

"How do you know Daphne?" he asked.

"She's my cousin" Astoria said.

"Oh! Okay ,whatever." he groaned, "Hey look over there, wow that's amazing" he yelled.

"What!" Astoria looked away and at the same time the boy took the chocolate frog from her hand and put it in his mouth. Astoria looked at him, a mouth open in surprise and her temper had been raised to such a level that she just wanted wipe that stupid smirk out of the gits face! "How dare you eat my chocolate frog!" before she could punch him in the face, he started to run through the crowds finding spaces to run as far as possible. Astoria, running through the crowds, followed the blonde haired boy but suddenly she realized that she had lost his. She let out an involuntary groan and went to search for her father. She saw him standing and talking to a man and woman with same platinum blonde hair, same as the boy she was chasing. And there she spotted him standing next to the woman's feet looking bored. She was going to take her revenge, nobody had given him the right to take her chocolate frog and eat it, and she wasn't a sissy like her cousin she wasn't afraid of confrontation, she was gonna show him who's the boss among both of them.

She went and pulled the sleeves of her father's robes; he looked down and smiled at his daughter. Averting his conversation with the couple he bends down and kissed her on the forehead. He put his hand over her shoulder, making her stand in front of him. He continued his talk with the man. Astoria looked at the boy and saw him smirking at her, she simply glared at him. The woman standing next to the man happened to notice this and smiled at Astoria and then turned to look at her son smirking at that little girl. She knew something was up, she had a sudden realization that her son was probably not on his best behavior today.

The woman finally spoke to Astoria, "Hello I am Narcissa Malfoy and you must be Astoria, Cepheus' daughter, right!" Astoria looked at her and nodded in agreement and then continued to glare at the boy. Narcissa thought of this as very cute. "I see you have already met my son, Draco, and I reckon he has played some kind of prank on you because you are glaring at him and he is smirking, which he only does when he sees someone angry because of him" Narcissa stated, this made Astoria's eyes soft and she looked at the woman while on the other hand it wiped away the smirk on Draco's face.

Narcissa smiled at her and turned towards Draco, "What did you do, Draco? Your father had clearly said that you should be on your best behavior tonight, right?" she questioned him. Draco didn't speak anything and kept looking at his feet but Astoria saw that boy smirk again, he was not at all ashamed of what he had done. Astoria gathered all her courage up and spoke, "He ate my chocolate frog." Draco grinned at Astoria, clearly he was not at all ashamed. "Draco! How many times have I told you not to take other people's stuff without asking them?" Narcissa asked. Draco sighed, "Mother, she said that she only wanted the card not the chocolate frog."

"Did not!" Astoria yelled.

"Did too!" Draco exclaimed.

"Did not!" Astoria shouted again but she was interrupted by her father, "Astoria what is the matter? Why are you shouting at Lucius' son?"

Astoria looked at her father, surprised by his sudden hindrance in their fight, "Daddy he took my chocolate frog and ate it, without my permission. If he would have asked I would have given him half of it."

Lucius did not look very pleased by his son's behavior. He glared at Draco, this made him a bit scared and he coward behind his mother. Astoria saw this little bit of action and felt a bit bad for the boy. Her father loved her a lot but seeing someone's father not showing a little bit of love for his own kid made her feel guilty, thinking that she was the reason the boy would get a good scolding when he gets home. She softened her eyes and looked at him, immediately he also looked towards her, she gave him a reassuring smile to convey everything would be okay but seeing this he only smirked at her. _He's Dead_ she thought but she was happy that atleast she could make him smile or rather smirk.

Suddenly all she could do was grin at the boy and to her surprise he grinned back. She realized that her father was calling her; it was time to go home. Her father took her hand and started walking towards Margaret and Orion, standing infront of the hall.

Narcissa was talking to Mrs Parkinson and her daughter Pansy was just staring at Draco but he couldn't get the annoying girl out of his head. He saw her standing next to her parents, ready to make her way out of the house, she suddenly looked towards him and narrowed her eyes. He chuckled at her expression and shouted a loud bye. She was eyeing him curiously but returned his bye.

When Astoria returned home she could only think about the boy getting shouted at by his father. It was his fault in the first place but now she was feeling quite guilty. She changed into her night clothes, her mother came into her room to kiss her goodnight but she saw the worried expression on her daughters face. She was waiting for her to speak her heart out but she didn't. Margaret sighed, "Astoria, sweety whats the matter?"

"Nothing mum. Actually I met this boy at the party…"

"and you like him" Margaret teased.

"No! He was a total git but as I was saying, he ate my chocolate frog and I told his parents and now he is in trouble."

" So you are feeling guilty"

"A bit"

"Oh Astoria don't worry everything's going to be fine, though I think right now might be getting a scolding at home, but I think he will still like you"

"Mum seriously I don't like him"

"Okay whatever you say sweety, goodnight" Margaret giggled to herself and turn off the lights.

At the Malfoy Manor a bit different situation was taking place. Draco was sitting on a chair beside his mother. His father was pacing from left to right, irritated by his son's stupid behavior. He stopped and looked down at his son.

"What do you think you were doing today?" Lucius shouted.

Draco flinched, "Fa… ther…. Father I was hungry and she had a chocolate…."

"No! What were you doing talking to that girl, her mother is a mudblood Draco."

"Daddy she…"

"Father! Call me father, we are high dignified people Draco, who don't refer to their parents as mummy or daddy but by father and mother" Lucius yelled.

"Father she was j.. ju.. just sitting there and…" Draco stammered.

"Malfoys don't stammer Draco" Lucius said with a hint of shame in his voice. He couldn't believe that it was his own flesh and blood with a speech as that of any person not belonging to the high aristocratic society.

"…she was sitting there alone and she was so pretty, I wanted to talk to her so I went…" Draco spoke softly while his mother stroked his hair, guilty to not able to fight for her son with her husband.

"There was many other pretty girls of your age like Pansy and Daphne and why were you not with your friends Theodore, Blaise, Gregory and Vincent?"

"Actually I got bored and…"

"Enough! I don't want to listen anymore. You will not talk to that girl ever again and I want you to be friends with Pansy and Daphne because when you grow up you will be marrying one of them and then make them part of the Malfoy family and as they know they will, like any pureblood woman, give you an heir" Lucius stated.

"But what if I don't love her?" Draco questioned.

"There is no such thing as love Draco, there is only power and money. They will only help you in the end, not a woman who you are in love with. You will grow to love your wife like I now love Narcissa and look we are rich and we have power. Listen to me Draco you are a handsome boy, you will grow to be a handsome man like me and even if you don't love your wife you can keep mistresses."

"But that is wrong, I can't do something like that."

"You will be powerful, love is nothing but a weakness it will destroy you in the end. Listen to me Draco I am your father and I know what is best for you, okay."

Draco simply nodded, taken aback by his father's beliefs. "Narcissa take Draco to bed" Lucius ordered and went towards his study.

Narcissa tucked Draco in bed and kissed him on his forehead, she loved her son a lot but going against her husbands will was not an option. Her eyes were filled with tears after hearing what Lucius had said to Draco. He had told her a number of times that he loved her but now for the first time in her life she wanted to do something her heart told her to do.

Draco was smiling at his mother, he loved her, and according to him she was world's best mum. It was a secret between Narcissa and Draco, that he could call her mum when they were alone. Narcissa leaned down and whispered in Draco's ear, "Please don't listen what your father has to say, do what your heart says to do." She stood up to leave the room but suddenly a thought popped up in her head, she looked at Draco and said, "That girl was really very pretty."

Draco looked at his mother and turned a bit pink. He didn't know the reason why but he did. He closed his eyes and thought of what he must do. Should he listen to his father or his mother? He was confused. He wanted to make his father proud of him and he wanted his mother to love him always. He had a decision to make but what would it be?

* * *

"Wow dad that was intense" Emily said.

"I didn't know Grandfather was like this before" stated Scorpius.

"Well he was. I had made a decision that I will make my father proud, follow his footsteps but I didn't know that it would lead to my downfall" Draco sighed.

Nobody spoke for a few minutes and the atmosphere became quite tensed therefore Emily decided to ease it.

"Dad was mom very pretty, when she was about seven years old, that you couldn't take your eyes off her?"

Draco laughed, "Yeah, she was. She was and is beautiful inside out but she doesn't think so. She's an idiot. Anyways, I love your mom a lot and she loves me a lot now, but at that time she hated me. Still she looked extremely attractive when she glared at me, I remember a time in my fifth year…. No lets go according and not jump ahead."

Scorpius and Emily laughed.

"Well there's a thing that I have never told your mother but I am telling you both that if it wasn't for her….how to say this…okay your mother is the reason that I am what I am today. After the war I would have thrown my life away, shagged women and died a alcoholic but I loved her so much that I wanted to prove to her that I was boyfriend _hyphen_ husband material, I wanted her to respect me. I struggled but you both are the proof that I succeeded but more to that later, let the story continue…..

* * *

**In the next chapter they will be busy shopping for their first year in Hogwarts.**

**Please review…. Please please please…. :'(**


	4. Chapter 4- You again

**Chapter 4- You again**

**Disclaimer: I have not ever owned Harry Potter, I do not own Harry Potter, and I won't ever own it either.**

* * *

4 years later….

Astoria had finally turned eleven years old and received her Hogwarts letter. She was very excited. Two years ago when Orion left for Hogwarts Astoria felt alone for the first time in nine years but in these two years she became very good friends with Ginny and Ron. Molly had also started to feel a bit alone at home because now she was free from investigating what mischief Fred and George were planning to do. Orion was sorted in Gryffindor along with Fred and George. Astoria was very tense, she wanted to be in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff but not in Slytherin. She hated Slytherin. Astoria once even went to her father to clarify her doubts about Slytherin, he only said that just because one bad wizard belonged to that house does not mean all are bad. Astoria knew her father was right, he was himself a Slytherin but he wasn't bad, he was a perfect dad.

When Orion had returned from his first year at Hogwarts he had several stories about his experience to tell, he told Astoria about the school, the teachers, the subjects, Quidditch and his favourite subject Transfiguration. He told her about how great Professor Dumbledore was and how professor Snape just hated Gryffindor's. He told her that Hogwarts was the perfect example of heaven on earth. The location where Hogwarts was situated was filled with magic and magical creatures. Astoria started to sketch an image of Hogwarts inside her head. She couldn't wait to turn eleven and begin a journey of her life that she would never forget. She was eager to buy her own wand, to read her first year books, to meet new people, to meet her teachers, to see her common room and feel something, she would cherish for her entire life, which was to finally stand on her own in the strange magical world, outside the four walls of her house, filled with bad and good people.

From the morning of her birthday, she wasn't able to take her eyes off the sky, staring at it waiting for her Hogwarts letter to arrive. It had been two days since her birthday but still no letter. She thought that she might be a squib, but being a squib didn't break her heart the fact that she won't be able to step inside Hogwarts ever did. She cried herself to sleep every night. She was sad. She asked her mother about her being a squib but she simply denied it because she had seen Astoria's magical abilities at home. Her mother's words gave her a bit of hope but not entirely.

A week after her birthday during dinner time, something wonderful happened. The whole family was sitting and eating when suddenly they heard the screech of an owl. Cepheus got up and looked out of the window. There a beautiful barn owl was sitting at the window sill. Cepheus opened the window and saw something tied to its leg. He untied it and immediately the owl flew away. He saw what it was and his eyes widened. Astoria thought it was a letter from the Ministry of Magic but it wasn't. Cepheus sat on his place at the dining table and smiled at Astoria. He finally spoke, "It seem that Astoria finally got her Hogwarts letter." Astoria's mouth dropped open in surprise, she thought that she was dreaming. Her father gave the letter to her and she looked at the envelope and on top it was written:

_Ms A. Greengrass_

Astoria didn't have any words to say, she was extremely happy she looked at her parents and brother who were all looking at her with a big grin on their faces. She carefully opened the letter and read it out loudly:

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

_Dear Ms Greengrass, _

_We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall Deputy Headmistress_

Astoria jumped out of her seat and hugged her mother sitting next to her. She ran towards her father and he enclosed her into a tight hug. Her father looked down at her with tears in his eyes. This was the second time Astoria had seen her father cry. The first time was when Orion was leaving for Hogwarts and the second time was this. She felt her heart break, she moved her right hand towards her father's face and wiped his tears away. She looked at him and smiled, Cepheus leaned down and kissed her on her forehead and whispered in her ear, "Promise me that you'll always remain my little warrior." Astoria nodded, "I promise dad, I promise." She captured him in an embrace. Margaret was weeping silently from her chair while kissing Orion on his head.

"And also that if you fall in love with a boy in school don't ever forget your old man here, okay."

Astoria nodded. Cepheus looked at Orion who was grinning after hearing his father's remark, "Same goes for you too young man…. Love someone but don't forget your family, is that clear." Orion grinned, "Yeah dad, don't worry your future daughter-in-law and son-in-law. They will be absolutely amazing and yeah, one more thing, don't except grandkids anytime soon."

"But…. Okay fine" Cepheus stated.

Everyone laughed. They were all very happy. After dinner Margaret suggested on taking her job at the Ministry of Magic again as now she will get bored at home. Everyone agreed to it and Cepheus was overjoyed on hearing the news, he wanted his wife to work because she loved her old job. When their kids were born she had chosen to sacrifice it for her kids, as for now both Orion and Astoria will be at Hogwarts the idea of working again made her even more happy. They decided to go to Diagon alley, to purchase Astoria's and Orion's books, next week.

The whole week had passed by in a hurry. The whole family was ready to flow to Diagon Alley today. Astoria was extremely excited to purchase her wand, books and to have her favorite ice cream. Her dream was coming true, she was finally going to Hogwarts and she loved the feeling.

* * *

Four years had passed away since the party at Greengrass manor. Draco had grown up now. He was no more the boy he used to be. He was now an image of his father. He became the same innocent little boy he used to be before, only in the presence of his mother. He loved her but he wanted his father's approval, he wanted to make his father proud. He now had become good friends with the children of other pureblood families like the Nott's, Zabini, Crabbe, Goyle, Parkinson and Greengrass. He was now a big boy and had started to get attracted to pretty girls but more importantly had the courage to talk to them and he, not like other boys, was smooth and charming even at the mere age of eleven. He remembered his fathers speech where he had said that love was only a weakness. The only power is money. His father had selected two girls- Daphne and Pansy, as eligible enough to later become part of the Malfoy family. Draco on the other hand found Daphne extremely annoying, he accepted the fact that she was very pretty but he preferred Pansy because that girl used to follow him like a dog.

It had been almost four years since the night when he had met the little brat girl. When Draco used to be in his room, all by himself, he had the freedom to become his original self again, at night before going to sleep he sometimes used to remember the girl, he had forgotten her name but he had enough confidence to identify her if she stood right in front of him, the next moment. He was sure that he could identify her by the blue eyes and black hair she had along with the adorable way she glared at him. He knew that the thoughts coming in his head were just thoughts. They had nothing to do with his life outside his room. Even if he saw that girl anywhere he wouldn't be able to talk to her because a Malfoy would never associate with a girl or sink that low to fall in love with a girl who had a bit of muggle blood flowing inside her.

He wished that probably one day he'll meet her again, talk to tell, be her friend and still be able to make his father proud of him. But that was never going to happen. He didn't even know her name and he didn't want to approach his mother just to know what the girls name was. He was a Malfoy and Malfoy's never chase after a girl, in fact girls chase them. Draco wanted to become an exact image of his father, work at the ministry, have loads of money and have a beautiful wife to come home to.

A few days after his birthday he received his Hogwarts letter. His father wanted to send him to Durmstrang institute but his mother, for the first time in his life, declined it. She didn't want her only son to go such a distant place; therefore they decided to send Draco to Hogwarts. Draco used to feel alone at home, he didn't have anyone to talk to. Sometimes his mother used to invite children of other pureblood families home mostly Crabbe, Goyle and Parkinson to their house. He felt good to have people following him everywhere he goes, he felt like he was a leader, he felt powerful and he was becoming his father.

Narcissa and Lucius had decided to take Draco to Diagon alley to buy his school supplies. Draco was actually quite excited but he was scared to show it. He felt happy , he had a feeling that this day would be amazing but he didn't know why.

Astoria had gone through her shopping list a number of times and had memorized it. She already knew where to buy her potions ingredients, wand, robes etc. Margaret and Cepheus were taking Orion and Astoria first to Flourish and Blotts to buy their books but Astoria wanted to go to the Eeylops Owl Emporium. Her parents were a bit reluctant at first but they agreed, after a lot of pleading from her side, to let her go alone. They decided that all three of them will meet her, with Orion's and her books, outside Ollivanders after twenty minutes. Her mother gave her fifteen Galleons and she ran towards Eeylops Owl Emporium. She entered the shop and saw a middle aged man standing behind the counter, cleaning cages. She walked towards the counter and suddenly her eyes caught the sight of a beautiful Barn Owl kept at the back of the shop on the uppermost shelf. She took a deep breath, not wanting to scare the shop keeper, and spoke softly, "Excuse me sir." The man looked at her and smiled. He placed the cage he was cleaning down on the table and looked at her, "Hello! How may I help you?"

He was a very tall man with a pointed nose and was wearing green coloured robes. His skin was of beautiful caramel colour, had light brown hair and was indeed a very handsome man. Astoria looked at him and said, "Hello sir. My name is Astoria…sir and I wanted to buy the owl kept at the back of your shop" she pointed at the Barn owl kept at the back of the shop. The man looked behind and examined the owl, he looked at her and said, "Ah! That one is one of my favourite. Good choice. I'll bring it to you just give me five minutes, I have to bring his cage from the cupboard at the back, okay." Astoria nodded, "Okay." The man smiled at her and went towards the back.

Astoria waited patiently for the man to return, she still had ten minutes. She was very happy today, everything was going perfectly and nothing in the whole world could make her angry today.

Suddenly she heard the door of the shop open and looked who had entered. Probably, she had judged her day too soon because by looking at the face of the person she knew she would be leaving the shop fully exasperated. Looking around the shop stood the boy with whom she had an encounter four years ago. She quickly turned her head towards the counter, wishing that he wouldn't see her. But well at that particular time her luck had gone to any other town on a vacation. He came and stood next to her and called out for the shopkeeper. The man came out of the storage but he did not have the cage for Astoria's owl in his hand. The man looked at the boy and spoke, "Yes sir, how may I help you, Mr Malfoy?" The boy looked at him with disgust and spoke rude manner, "I want treats for my family owl, Rhesus, and remember they should be of the finest quality." The shopkeeper nodded and started moving back to the storage, he stopped and turned around to look at the little girl and said, "Can you please wait for another five minutes, miss?" Astoria nodded and smiled at him. She had never hated anyone more than she hated the boy next to her but it was better that she didn't say anything.

Draco saw the man talk to the girl standing next to him. He looked at her and then it clicked him, she was the girl from the party four years ago. He, with all his confidence, tapped at the girls shoulder. She turned and looked at him. She looked still the way she looked four years ago but her hair was a bit longer and she was prettier than before. He wanted to ask her name but remembered that she was a half-blood; therefore he tried to suppress all his feelings and said, "Oh I see you are buying an owl, why? Were they out of frogs?"

"Yeah nice to meet you too….again" Astoria said.

Draco smirked and held his hand out, "My names Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

"Astoria Greengrass" Astoria said while shaking his hand. "I hope you remember that you still owe me an apology."

"Apology! No I don't think so" Draco smirked.

"Excuse me!" Astoria exclaimed.

"I don't owe you anything and why would I, a person belonging to the prestigious pureblood society would never in his entire life owe anything to a half-blood like you."

"How dare you! Just because you are a pureblood does not mean that you are good at magic. Let me just tell you Mr Show off that I am better than you in a million ways, your pride comes and goes with your daddy's money," she yelled at him.

"Greengrass don't cross your limits. You are just some pathetic little girl…"

"Pathetic little girl! What do you know about me? Just because you are a rich spoilt brat that does not give you the right to insult anyone, anywhere" Astoria retorted.

"Oh, please! I am too busy to insult people like you besides my father wasn't the one who married a mudblood."

It was the limit and well, Astoria lost it. She grabbed Draco's robes and pushed him towards the wall. He looked at her and shouted, "What do you think you are doing Greengrass?"

Astoria looked at him, her eyes filled with contempt, she said, "You can say anything about me, insult me all you want but no matter what happens never dare to insult my parents especially my mum. Beside her blood is purer than your blood will ever be in a million years Malfoy and yeah, I am proud to be a half blood and if you have a problem with that, its none of my business because lets face it probably we will see each other at Hogwarts but after that I will never even dare to look at that stupid face of yours."

Draco smirked, "Yeah, say whatever you want but you'll see what effect I have on people, especially girls disregarding the fact that I am only eleven years old. In the next seven years you won't be able to take your eyes off me, I guarantee you."

"Ha! You're so naive Draco Malfoy. I pity you but let me guarantee you one thing and that is perhaps one day I'll see the real Draco Malfoy and not a polyjuiced version of your father."

Draco glared at her. He had never met someone who had threatened him, excluding his father. He was rather impressed by the girl's will power to take him down but he very well knew that would never happen. He wanted to be like his father but not like a polyjuiced version of him. That girl was driving him insane and he just wanted to hex her but a part of him wanted to keep talking to the girl even if she was constantly insulting him. He had noticed that even though the girl was Daphne's sister they were entirely different from each other. Daphne, in a way worshipped him, but her sister would probably behead him and throw him in a lake. Pansy on the other hand was well, his follower and would support him even when he is wrong but this 'Astoria Greengrass' would challenge him and he always loved,_ what loved sorry appreciates_ a challenge.

"Back off Greengrass" Draco spat.

Astoria realized how close she was standing to Draco therefore she let go of his robes and moved a few steps back, while continuing to glare at him. The shopkeeper came back from the storage room and placed Astoria's owl and Draco's owl treats on the counter. Astoria looked towards the counter and smiled kindly at the man; she moved towards the counter and started stroking her owl. The owl was curiously eyeing her. Draco came and stood next to her, he took out five galleons from his pocket and placed it on the counter. He took the owl treats in his hand and started walking towards the door. He turned to look at Astoria once more. She caught his line of sight and glared at him. "See you at school" Draco hissed and went out of the shop. She continued to stare at the door and tried to comprehend what exactly had happened. Before even starting school she had made an enemy and he hated her more than anything. She was now really scared, not because of Draco because he was a sissy but to face the world on her own where she won't have her mum and dad to protect her. She finally realized something, she was going to be on her own and this scared her to death. Taking a deep breath she looked at the shopkeeper and gave him fifteen galleons, took her new owl and exited the shop.

Draco walked out of the shop, he was amused. That girl was a total freak but still she intrigued him. He was obviously out of his mind because she meant nothing to him but still he couldn't resist the feeling of going and talking to her again. If his father knew what was going on inside his head at the particular moment he might disown him. The feeling was too strong, he hated her, she was pathetic but still she was better than Pansy and Daphne. He wanted to show her who the boss was and Hogwarts was the perfect place to do so. He would show her that he is better than her in every aspect and she will have to accept it, no matter what. He started walking towards the apothecary to find his mother.

Astoria ran towards Ollivanders and saw her parents standing outside it, looking worried. She shouted, "Mum!" and Margaret looked towards her, a pang of relief spread over her face and she enclosed Astoria in a bone crushing hug. "Oh Astoria, where were you? We were so worried" Margaret said.

"Sorry mum, I ran into someone and guess what today I made my first enemy" Astoria said.

"Aww sweety, who?" Margaret asked.

"Remember I told you about a boy four years ago" Margaret nodded, "Yeah, that boy, mum and he is a total git" Astoria exclaimed.

"No worries it's his loss…" Astoria smiled, "…now lets get your wand"

Astoria and Margaret entered the shop while Cepheus and Orion had gone to the apothecary. Mr Ollivander gave Astoria four wands but well it didn't respond to her. Finally her fifth wand was perfect. Its core was phoenix feather, wood was of Alder tree and its length was twelve and a half inches. Her mother paid Mr Ollivander seven galleons and they exited the shop. Last thing to buy were Astoria's robes. They went to Madam Malkim Robes for All Occasions to buy them. Madam Malkim fixed her robes and altered them. Now everything was ready. It was a long day and now, Astoria could go home and sleep because she was exhausted. As she followed her parents towards the direction of the Leaky Cauldron her mind was averted back to the blonde boy whose first name she couldn't remember but she knew his last name, 'MALFOY', she hoped that he wasn't in his house at school because she couldn't tolerate the boy. He was a total lunatic. She hated him, he hated her but still there was something that she was missing in her theory about the boy. She realized that she was about to enter the Leaky cauldron and suddenly saw a giant man talking to her father, a boy standing next to him about her age. She realized the man was Hagrid.

"… Oh yes the Ministry is giving me a hard time again…" said Cepheus.

Astoria looked at the boy next to him, he had very messy hair and was a little taller than him. She smiled at him and he smiled back. She suddenly noticed something on his forehead, it was a scar… a scar… scar. She realized that the Harry Potter was standing in front of her. Her eyes got wide and her breath was caught in her throat. She managed to say a few words to Hagrid, "Good afternoon Mr Hagrid." Hagrid looked at her and said, "Oh 'ello 'storia I see you are also starting your first 'ear at Hogwarts. Harry here will be starting, too." She looked at Harry and saw him giving her a sweet smile. Astoria extended her hand towards Harry, as a sign of friendship. They both shook their hands and introduced each other, "Hello, I am Astoria Greengrass. It's nice to meet you Mr Potter" she said. Harry replied, "Oh please call me Harry and it's good to meet you Astoria."

"Oh we are obviously interrupting you both, sorry about that. All the best Harry for school I know you will have a great time there" Cepheus said.

"Thank you sir" Harry smiled.

"Okay lets get your things Harry" Hagrid said.

Before Harry could go Margaret give Harry a small kiss on the forehead. She looked at him and said, "You are a very strong boy Harry. Your parents would have been proud of you." She kissed him on the cheek and hugged him. Harry felt, after a very long time, the feeling of mothers love and hugged her back. She waved him goodbye and proceeded to sit on a table in the leaky cauldron for some lunch.

Astoria could only think about her unusual day where she made an enemy, bought her school stuff and met the boy who lived. She was happy, she would be missing the family dinners when she finally goes to Hogwarts. She will miss everything but now she was ready to prove herself. She had got the confidence, don't know from where, but she wanted to make her parents proud of their little girl. Along with that she had to show that Malfoy his real position and to show him who the real boss is. She was going to kick his arse. Astoria smiled to herself and shook her head, concentrating on her parents' topic of conversation. Hogwarts will be fun.

* * *

"Mum was a fighter dad," Scorpius said.

"Oh, yeah. That she was, still is." Draco sighed smiling to himself.

"Was she still against you in school, I mean did she hate you?" Emily exclaimed.

"Yeah she did. She used to talking to Potter, Weasley, Granger, Longbottom, Lovegood and many others. I hated it, I mean I was an amazing company but she didn't even like to sit with me, ever. And she became friends with that Weaselette…." Scorpius narrowed his eyes, "… sorry, Ginny. They always used talk to each other and laugh. Bloody Greengrass" Draco laughed.

"But Neville did help me later with everything, yeah he helped me and your mother in getting married, particularly me. Astoria and I were one of the main reasons why Neville and Hannah got married. When I fell in love with Astoria, which I don't exactly know when, I just realized it one day when I was….. sorry getting way ahead of myself. So where were we?"

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**Please review everyone, please.**

**Appreciation and Criticism, both are welcomed.**


	5. Chapter 5- All aboard!

**Chapter 5- All aboard!**

**Disclaimer: I have not ever owned Harry Potter, I do not own Harry Potter, and I won't ever own it either.**

**A/N: A song played when she passes through the barrier denoting the feeling she gets when she finally realizes what was happening. Song: Simon and Garfunkel Scarborough Fair**

* * *

A month passed by really quickly. Tomorrow, Astoria was going to start a new chapter in her life. She was going to the greatest school in the whole world. She was on cloud nine. She was bound to be home sick for a few days but she had her brother with her therefore, she would be fine. The only bad feeling she was getting was that she would again have an encounter with Malfoy. She hated that arrogant bastard.

Her trunk was ready; she had packed all the books, her clothes, school robes and other materials. Margaret had helped her to pack everything. She was going to Hogwarts. It still seemed like a dream to her, a beautiful one. Orion had told Astoria about the headmaster, Professor Albus Dumbledore, who is the greatest headmaster Hogwarts had ever seen. Astoria loved her mum and dad and the fact that she won't able to see them for the next three months made her feel sad inside from inside. The thought of not seeing her mum and dad everyday was quite frightening for her.

At night when she got ready to go to bed her mum came in the room to check whether she had kept everything or not. Astoria showed her mum everything that she had packed. After that Astoria got into bed and Margaret came and sat next to her, stroking her hair. She looked at Astoria and smiled. She leaned and kissed her on the forehead. She took a deep breath and said, "Tori, tomorrow is a big day for you." Astoria nodded, "Hey, don't forget to write to us okay and remember we'll miss you." Astoria smiled and said, "I'll miss you too mum." Margaret turned the light off and left the room. Soon Astoria finally went off to sleep.

The next morning chaos was everywhere. Everyone was running from one room to another to get ready for the train, which left exactly at eleven O'clock. Margaret made a heavy breakfast for Astoria and Orion so that they don't feel hungry till they reach Hogwarts. By ten O'clock everyone was ready and everything was packed. Cepheus had called a cab which would drop them at King Cross. The small cab was expanded by undetectable extension charms so that it could easily fit the luggage carts in it as well as the owls. They reached the station and headed towards platform nine and three quarters. As it was Astoria's first train ride, Cepheus told Orion to not leave his sister alone wandering from one compartment to another. But Orion knew what to do, Astoria had came to his room in the afternoon when he was busy packing, the day before, and had told him not to accompany her everywhere because she wanted to make friends by herself and not by the assistance of her brother, still he nodded after hearing his fathers words.

Astoria smirked after seeing the way her brother was reacting… wait smirked she immediately frowned. She was having the blonde boy side effect, she had smirked like him, she felt disgusted by herself. A part of her brain wanted that he didn't go to Hogwarts but instead went to Durmstrang or Beauxbatons so that she would have a Malfoy free life atleast at school. But if he went to Hogwarts she would love to kick his arse everyday. She laughed to herself thinking that and therefore received a amused look from her mother. They reached the barrier and Astoria was grinning from ear to ear. She was extremely happy. She ran towards it and reached platform nine and three quarters.

_Are you goin' to Scarborough Fair?  
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.  
Remember me to one who lives there,  
she once was a true love of mine.  
Tell her to make me a cambric shirt.  
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.  
Without no seams nor needlework.  
Then she'll be a true love of mine._

There it was the Hogwarts Express, though she had come to drop Orion for his first and second year but she felt her breath has been taken away by its magnificence. Her eyes were wide in awe. It was absolutely beautiful. The platform was crowded, there were a large number a students and their parents who were saying their good- byes to their kids. There was seven minutes left before the departure of the train. Astoria looked at her parents who were looking a bit teary. Cepheus hugged Astoria and kissed her on her forehead like he always used to. He leaned towards her ear and spoke in a hushed voice, "Take care sweetheart, I love you." Astoria looked at her father, tears filling her eyes, she hugged him tightly and didn't want to leave him. At that moment, she just wanted her father to protect her from the outer world, she wanted to go back home and have a lovely family dinner with everyone but she couldn't.

_Tell her to find me an acre of land.  
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.  
Between salt water and the sea strands.  
Then she'll be a true love of mine.  
Tell her to reap it in a sickle of leather.  
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.  
And gather it all in a bunch of heather .  
Then she'll be a true love of mine._

She backed a bit and looked at her father who was smiling at her. Her father didn't want her to go, he wanted his little girl to always be with him and not grow up. He wanted her to be the innocent child she was now and didn't want her to leave him. He wanted to cry his heart out but looking at his wife who was weeping silently drying her tears in her handkerchief, he knew he had to act like the strong one right now. Cepheus moved and hugged Orion, who showed that crying was only for weak people but while he was in his fathers embrace he couldn't help but weep. Margaret hugged Astoria, both of them wiped away each other's tears and grinned looking at Cepheus and Orion silently weeping because according to them, they were too manly to cry.

The whistle blew and they all knew that it was time to go. Astoria bid their parents their final goodbyes and entered the train, they looked outside to see their parents waving at them. Astoria was still had tears in her eyes and seeing this, Orion enclosed her in a hug, which was very rare when they were from him, she couldn't help but smile at this little gesture. The train blew a whistle and started to move. Astoria kept looking out of the window until the train turned and she couldn't see the station anymore. She felt someone tuck her purple jumper and saw Orion who was indicating her to follow him. She nodded and followed him. They both walked for two minutes to find an empty compartment but stopped when Astoria saw Ron and waved towards him. He saw her and waved back with a smile. He was sitting with Harry Potter who also looked towards her and smiled which she returned.

_Are you going to Scarborough Fair?  
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.  
Remember me to one who lives there,  
she once was a true love of mine._

They walked for another minute or two when Orion stopped and pointed towards the compartment which was occupied with a chubby boy and a bushy haired girl, who was reading a book and already wearing her robes. Orion waved her a goodbye and went to find her friends. Astoria was a bit nervous, she didn't know whether the boy and the girl would be rude to her or not but she had to do something because she couldn't just stand there for the duration of the entire journey. She opened the compartment and asked politely, "Hi, all the other compartments are full, do you both mind if I sit here please?" The boy spoke, "Not at all" Astoria smiled at him and sat on the seat opposite to him next to the bushy haired girl. Astoria took a deep breath and said, "Hello my name is Astoria Greengrass, its nice meeting you both." She extended her hand towards the boy and he took it and said, "I am Neville Longbottom" Astoria nodded. The bushy haired girl extended her hand, closing her book, "I am Hermione Granger, its nice meeting you, too."

Astoria looked at them and smiled nervously. Hermione went back to reading her book and Neville kept looking for something. She was curious to know what he was looking for and finally gathered all her courage and questioned him, "What are looking for?"

Neville looked at her and gave her an awkward smile, "My toad, he's missing. Gran said to keep it safe but I happen to lose it as soon as I boarded the Hogwarts express."

Astoria pitied the boy, "May I help you find it?"

Neville looked at Astoria in disbelief, "Will you, I mean really thank you. Hermione will you help us too?"

Astoria smiled at him and he smiled back. The bushy haired girl, whose name was Hermione, put her book down, looked at both of them, and nodded with a smile on her face, too. Neville slid the compartment door open for Hermione and Astoria. They stood in the corridor looking in both directions. Astoria looked towards one side of the corridor while Neville and Hermione were looking towards the other side. It was Hermione who spoke first, "I think I'll go and check on the left side, what about you both?"

Neville looked towards the left side corridor which was longer than the right side corridor and decided to accompany Hermione. Astoria made her way towards the right side corridor of the train. As she walked across the length of the train, she paused at every compartment and asked its occupants but she got the same answers, such as "Sorry but we haven't seen your toad" or "Who even brings a toad nowadays!" or "Don't disturb us you ickle first year", again and again and again. She was hoping that atleast Neville and Hermione must've gotten a positive outcome because she was now getting sick of all the people slamming their compartment door right on her face. She was angry, frustrated and tired. She was hoping that atleast in the next compartment she would find that bloody toad.

She proceeded and opened the door and saw the sight of two very large boys, stuffing their mouths with chocolate, candies and many other delicacies' that they had bought from the lady with the trolley, and a boy nibbling on a Cauldron Cake. She opened her mouth to ask them the same question she had been asking for the past fifteen minutes but stopped dead in her tracks when the boy turned towards her. It was the pale blonde boy, Malfoy. His eyes were wide open when he realized who had just walked inside his compartment.

Astoria cursed herself for being so careless. _I am an idiot. Walked in this bloody wankers compartment, what were you thinking Astoria, _she thought. Malfoy finished his Cauldron Cake hastily and plastered a smirk on his face. _One day I'll wipe that bloody smirk of his off his face, _Astoria thought but didn't notice that while thinking she had been smiling to herself like a mental person.

Draco narrowed his eyes but kept smirking after seeing her abnormality. He cleared his throat to draw her attention back to him, "Ahem." Astoria felt a sudden voice interrupting her thought process and looked down to see Malfoy sitting like a king on his seat, smirking. He said, "Greengrass, now I am absolutely sure that you are completely mental, smiling to yourself….. ha well you definitely belong to the department where they keep mental people, like yourself, at St Mungo's"

Astoria snorted, "Oh Malfoy I might have a good and bad news for you on that aspect, lets see… yeah the good news is that you are probably right and the bad news is that, well, I went there during the vacations but it was already filled with the members of your family..." Draco's expression changed into one filled with contempt, "… who by the way are in worse shape than one could possibly imagine. No wonder I felt like I was talking to a mentally handicapped person when I met you at Eeylops Owl Emporium, you must have genetically gotten that dominant gene from your parents."

Draco was angry, his head was getting filled with insults and curses for this girl named... named… _what was the girl's name? _Draco thought. _Something with an 'A'. Ali.. no Asta… no Astra…. Draco your mum sorry mother will kill you if you forgot a lady's name, think think think… Astoria yeah that's the one, Astoria wow she has a very pretty name like herself so pre… wait what she is not pretty she is pathetic, a half blood not a pure blood, what am I doing? Why am I talking to myself? Get a grip Draco you have to make the girl feel so… so.. so special. What! No not special… pathetic right, wait I'm doing it again, stop talking to yourself Draco _he thought.

Astoria looked at Malfoy curiously while he was just staring at the wall behind her. She waved her hands over his eyes which successfully broke his thought process. The two beefy boys were eyeing their leader and the itty-bitty girl in a peculiar way. Draco noticed this and glared at them. They averted their eyes from the scene that was going on before them and started stuffing their mouths with food again. Draco stood up from his seat, his grey eyes looking directly into Astoria's blue ones trying to decipher their weakness.

Draco smirked at her and said, "You're definitely a Slytherin."

"Excuse me! I didn't ask for your opinion on my sorting and by the way let me tell you there is no way I'll be sorted in Slytherin" Astoria yelled.

"Calm down, Greengrass. Its obvious isn't it, your father was one and look at yourself, you are absolutely sly and cunning, you want to win no matter whether it is a in a discussion or any other event."

"Why do you seem so happy about it?" asked Astoria.

"Well I know that I am definitely going to be in Slytherin and seeing my father's position and everything I have quite the power. So if there is any chance that you might end up in Slytherin by the end of this day I'll see to it that I make your life hell."

"As if!" she spat.

"You would want to lower the temper tantrum tone of yours, won't get you anywhere."

"Listen, Malfoy, even if I am sorted in Slytherin I am never going to be like you. I bet on my life that I would never even shed one tear for any Slytherin student."

"And if you lose?"

"If I lose, which I won't, you have the power to take any one of my most prized possessions,"

"Fine. It's a deal." He extended his right hand towards her to shake, she shook it.

Looking around Astoria was sure there was no toad there and turned around to exit the compartment and walked briskly towards her own compartment.

Draco smiled to himself thinking about what he would take away from her when he wins. He suddenly remembered what he had to do before the girl had entered his compartment. He looked towards the two boys and said, "Crabbe, Goyle lets go. I heard Harry Potter was on this train." He with the two boys strode towards the left side corridor to find Potter.

Astoria had returned back to the compartment she was sitting in. A few minutes later Neville and Hermione also returned but they also had no luck in finding the toad. Astoria felt bad for Neville, she wished she could do something for him.

They changed into their robes and the train finally stopped. It was very dark outside. Astoria could see the Hogsmeade station. She got off the train and was bumped into Orion who was actually looking for her. He gripped her hand and took her towards Hagrid who had been calling for the first years. Orion patted Astoria on her back and whispered good luck in her ear. She along with the other first years followed Hagrid towards the lake along a narrow path. She was eagerly waiting to look at Hogwarts for the first time in her life.

There it was. Beautiful as ever, atop a high mountain on the other side of the lake. It was a vast castle with many turrets and towers and its windows sparkling in the starry sky. They all had to get into a boat to reach across the lake. Every boat contained four people. She was sitting with a girl named Hannah Abbott and two boys named Theodore Nott and Dean Thomas. They were all lost in the beauty of the castle.

They reached the harbour and all the students got out of their respective boats. To Astoria's delight Neville had finally found his toad in one of the boats. She wondered how it reached there, frankly she found it quite strange. They all walked a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.

"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?" Hagrid said and then knocked on the castle door.

The door swung open at once. A tall, black haired witch in emerald green robes stood there. She thanked Hagrid for bringing the first years and introduced herself as professor McGonagall. Everyone followed Professor McGonagall through the entrance hall and into a small room. In there she welcomed all the first years and explained about the four houses and the sorting. Astoria was very nervous. They followed professor McGonagall into the Great Hall which was the most amazing place she had ever seen with a ceiling bewitched to look as the night sky. Astoria spotted the sorting hat kept on a stool. Orion had told her about the hat and she wanted to hear it sing.

After the song was finished Professor McGonagall stepped forward holding a role of parchment containing the name of all the first years.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah!"

Astoria didn't pay much attention to the sorting, she was just waiting for her name to be called.

"Greengrass, Astoria!"

Astoria heard her name and move towards the stool. She sat on it and Professor McGonagall placed the sorting hat on her head.

"Hmmm…. I see, Greengrass. You are difficult, quite difficult to place. You have an ambition, a big one and I see that you have a nice thirst to prove yourself, therefore Slytherin might be good for you," said a small voice, "Ah... but I see courage in you, you are brave enough to stand for yourself. You are loyal, very loyal and with a ready and witty mind, too. Now where shall we put you, all the four houses are good but which one's the best. Hmmm… hmmm… I know SLYTHERIN!"

Astoria froze, she can't be in Slytherin. She hated that house. She heard an applause coming from the Slytherin table and removed the hat from her head and looked towards Professor McGonagall with her eyes filled with tears. The professor returned her a sad smile and patted on her back. She slowly walked towards the Slytherin table where the Slytherin Prefect, Lenard Yaxley, shook her hand and welcomed her to Slytherin.

She looked towards the Gryffindor table and saw Orion looking at her, he was smiling but looked a bit sad. He mouthed to her _Meet me before you go to your common room and don't you dare cry._ She smiled a little and nodded. She looked towards the teachers table and saw Professor Dumbledore looking at her, he was smiling and then he nodded towards her. She knew what that meant, he wanted her to be strong even if she wasn't placed in the house she desired, and simply nodded. She thought about the fact that now that she was a Slytherin probably others won't talk to her but she knew she had to change that soon. She hoped that when she would tell Ginny that she was sorted in Slytherin, she won't judge her but her heart didn't assure her that. She needed friends to survive but she was definitely not going to be friends with the Slytherins because well they were all pathetic and its biggest example was the Malfoy boy.

Finally when she calmed herself down she looked towards the other Slytherin first years, her cousin, Daphne a girl named Millicent Bulstrode and the two big boys whose name was Crabbe and Goyle. Astoria groaned to herself when she heard the Malfoy sorted in Slytherin. He swaggered towards the Slytherin table, but to her inconvenience, sat opposite to her. He had that stupid smirk on his face as he looked towards her, she glared at him and he smiled at her smugly.

"See I told you" Malfoy said.

"Oh Shut Up" Astoria exclaimed.

"Draco Malfoy does not even listen to an ickle girl like you, we have filth in the house, its best we remove it and fast."

She stared at him in disbelief, she wasn't filth. She was a better person that he would ever be. She felt suffocated as she sat on her house table. She knew the first thing that she had to do, make her own imagine. As she was planning and plotting her way into her house she realized that the hat was right, she definitely was a Slytherin but of a different kind.

She noticed someone had taken the seat next to her, it was a handsome boy who had brown hair. He looked towards her, with his light blue eyes, and smiled, "Nott, Theodore Nott" while extending his hand towards her. She felt her cheeks go warm for the first time in her life, _am I blushing _she thought, and quickly shook his hand before someone notices that but to her luck it seemed Malfoy and Theodore both had noticed this. Theodore simply smirked at her reaction and then turned to listen to what the headmaster had to say.

Draco saw Astoria's cheeks getting red as she shook Nott's hand. Was she blushing he thought. He felt angry but why? He didn't have any idea. But he was sure of one thing that tonight in the common room he would make not only Nott but also others make fun of her, then she could blush all she want he wouldn't care. He just wanted to see her face when she was getting embarrassed in front of the entire Slytherin house but he needed a plan and Pansy and Daphne would help him for sure. Nobody bosses over Draco Malfoy and if someone even tries he knows how to handle that bastard.

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"Dad, what the hell!" shouted Emily.

"What! I didn't like her and she was blushing while looking at Nott. God I hate Nott," Draco exclaimed.

"You were jealous but you tried to hide the fact that you liked mum by insulting her" stated Scorpius.

"Yeah, Yeah whatever," said Draco, rolling his eyes.

"Mum would have been mad at you," said Emily.

"Yeah, she was and the most annoying thing were her two friends."

"Who were the two?" asked Scorpius.

"You'll see" Draco smirked.

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**Comment Please Please. Anything please. :(**


	6. Chapter 6- Wax and Wane

**Chapter 6- Wax and wane**

**Disclaimer: I have not ever owned Harry Potter, I do not own Harry Potter, and I won't ever own it either.**

As dinner commenced Astoria forgot about her disappointment with herself. She started enjoying the food in front of her. Food was her weakness she liked to eat as much as she could. She had never seen so much variety on a dinner table: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb sausages, bacon and steak, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup and mint humbugs. There were ghosts flying all around the great hall. She met the Resident ghost of Slytherin Dungeons, Bloody Baron. Many other ghosts were also flying around the great hall, talking to the old students and introducing themselves to the new first years.

The first years were all talking to each other sharing knowledge (precisely bragging) about how rich their families were. Astoria found it kind of pathe…. No, totally ridiculous. She already hated her house inspite of the fact that it had only been about half an hour since the sorting had finally finished. Nobody was talking to her, only acknowledging her presence by the disgusted looks with which they looked at her. She hadn't even done anything which would make everyone hate her so much. But she already knew that her fellow house mates were a bunch of prats who cared about nothing except a person's blood status. _Stupid pureblooded morons, _Astoria thought. She started thinking of all the ways she could irritate the other Slytherins, with an evil grin on her face, she couldn't help but praise herself for the ideas.

A few minutes later she realized that she was still talking to herself in her mind. She had gone totally mental in about forty-five minutes, she couldn't help but wonder what will happen to her in seven years. Probably she might just end up at St Mungo's after Hogwarts.

She took a deep breath and looked at the boy sitting next to her, Theodore Nott. He was talking to a boy sitting next to him, probably he was Blaise Zabini. She tapped on his shoulder in order to attain his attention. To her surprise when Theodore looked at her he had the gentlest look in his eyes. She swallowed a lump in her throat and said, "Can you pass me the treacle tart?" _Dammit,_ she thought. "Yeah, no problem," Theodore grinned and passed her the treacle tart. "Thanks" Astoria whispered, hearing this he just nodded and went back to his conversation with Zabini.

Astoria was disheartened. She didn't even make one friend. Questions like, _was she going to survive in Slytherin? _Or _will she ever make any friends at Hogwarts?_ kept crossing her mind. She looked at the Gryffindor table where Orion was having a hearty laugh with his friends. She wished she wasn't in Slytherin because as long as she let people think that she is exactly like the pathetic fools in her house, who only care about blood supremacy and how to make the life of a muggleborn witch or wizard hell, she won't make one friend.

She looked at Malfoy, who was sitting opposite to her, talking to Daphne and Pansy. They were giggling like two small kids who go on their first ride on a ferris wheel. _Idiots_, she thought. She looked at the two big boys who were sitting next to Draco. She didn't know their name and she didn't have anyone else to talk to so…. "Hi I'm Astoria. You?" she extended her hands towards one of the big boys, a fake smile plastered on her face. The boy looked up wide eyed, with his mouth still full of food, he swallowed the food hastily and said, "Goyle."

"Goyle, what something Goyle?" she said.

"Gre… Gregory Goyle" he stammered.

"Oh, hi Greg nice to meet you. What about you, whats your name?" she asked the other boy.

"Vincent Crabbe"

"Hello Vincent, its nice to meet you." Both Crabbe and Goyle flushed red, either with embarrassment or with shyness. However, this small hi-hello chitchat didn't go unnoticed by Draco Malfoy. Ending his chat with the so called members of his fan club, he looked at Astoria curiously. _What is the girl playing at?_ _He was just sitting just next to those buffoons but instead of talking to him she was talking to them,_ _what the hell is wrong with her?_ he thought. Ignoring all the thoughts coming to his mind he couldn't help but think about a way to show this girl that she is no Slytherin material.

The feast was finally over and after Professor Dumbledore's speech everyone was told to return to their common rooms. Astoria along with the other first years went to stand next to their house prefect who was explaining all of them certain rules. She felt someone tap on her shoulder, she turned around to see Orion standing next to her with a big grin on his face.

"Enjoying?"

"Oh shut up, you very well know what I am feeling" she said.

"Tori I know that you are pissed with yourself but you are in no way a typical Slytherin, but still with your kind of temper and stories you told me about the blonde boy who keeps irritating you and how in the end you both just explode at each other, is kind of bad arse. But if he even comes near you I'll just kill that bastard. Nobody comes near my sister and troubles her" Orion said with a grin.

"O…K.. fine. Hey can you please write to mum and dad, I am just too tired to write and besides sharing a common with a group of gits," she points towards the other Slytherin first years standing near the prefect, "is definitely not my piece of cake."

"I know Tori, I know…. Ok I'll write to mum and dad. Now you should go to your prefect and listen to what he is saying." Orion started going to his friends direction when Astoria stopped him by pulling his hand towards herself. He turned around to find tears filling his sister's eyes.

"Ple… please don't go, I can't face them all alone. I'm scared" Astoria whispered, "I won't be able to make any friends and I'll be all… all alone."

Orion wiped away Astoria's tears and said, "You are very brave Astoria, you can do anything. You can handle everything, you remember what mum said at dinner last night," she nodded, "she said that you are brilliant even if people around you think otherwise, just stay the way you are, remember this and go to your common room. If they do anything bad such as insult you or something like that I know you can easily handle everything. So now stop acting like a five year old girl and go follow your prefect to your common room and yeah, don't forget to tell me how the Slytherin common room looks like. Bye."

Orion ran towards his friends who were just going out of the Great hall. Astoria looked at the Slytherin prefect who was still talking. _When will he stop talking? He is just going on and on and on, _she thought. After five minutes he asked all the first years to follow his towards the dungeons where the common room was. Astoria kept walking not really caring about what her classmates were talking about until they finally stopped. But to Astoria's luck she didn't notice when everyone had stopped and collided with none other than Draco Malfoy.

"Watch it, Greengrass!" Draco spat.

Astoria simply ignored him and continued to stare at the wall infront of her. She didn't know why they had stopped, there was no turns or doors anywhere. Lenard Yaxley turned around and grinned at them. He began, "So this is the entrance of the Slytherin common room. You see this wall, this isn't any ordinary wall but passage to enter the Slytherin common room. You all have to remember the password in order to enter." He looked towards the stone wall and said, "Salazar." Immediately the wall disappeared and Lenard went in followed by the first years. "This is the Slytherin common room. Boy's dormitory is on the left and girls on the right. Your luggage has already been brought up. If you all want to look around do it quickly and then straight away go to your dormitories. You all have classes in the morning. Remember the password to the common room changes every fortnight, and will be posted on the noticeboard. "

Astoria looked in all directions. The common room was a dungeon-like room with greenish lamps and chairs. This dungeon extended partway under the lake, giving the light in the room a green tinge. The common room had lots of low backed black and dark green leather sofas with buttons, skulls, and dark wood cupboards. It had quite a grand atmosphere, but also quite a cold one. It is decorated with tapestries featuring the adventures of famous Medieval Slytherins. She would never admit this to anyone but she loved her common room.

"Ahhh!"

Astoria turned around to see the source of the noise. It was Theodore Nott. He had tripped. Malfoy and his two friends Crabbe and Goyle were sniggering. Astoria was angry seeing this, she walked towards Nott and helped him up. He gave her a sad smile for her generosity.

"What is your problem Malfoy?" Astoria yelled. The whole common room went silent and everyone was looking at her. "Why the hell would you do something like that?"

"Oh cut it Greengrass, nobody cares." Malfoy spat.

"For your kind information, I do care," Astoria yelled.

"Please! Oh I get it you have a tiny crush on him, don't you, and that is why you are not enjoying this scene in front of you. Right?" Astoria tried to hide the blush creeping on her face, seeing this Malfoy smirked.

"What is wrong with you Malfoy? Why are you so…..so stubborn? Harry Potter is famous, everyone knows him but he is not proud or stubborn and he definitely doesn't try to make people feel inferior to him. Seeing your attitude I know for sure he would never be your friend" Astoria yelled.

This wiped the smirk off Malfoy's face and replaced it with a smug expression. "I don't need someone like you to tell what to do!"

"Someone like her, what does that supposed to mean?" asked Zabini.

"She is a bloody half-blood with a mudblood for a mother" said Malfoy.

Everyone starting murmuring among themselves. Finally Nott spoke up, "Malfoy you've gone mad. She is a Greengrass, one of the oldest pureblood families in Britain. The daughter of Corv…"

"I'm not uncle Corvus' daughter. My father is Cepheus Greengrass and yes he did marry a muggleborn but let me tell you she is better at magic than my father. Even he says so. And for your kind information I am proud to be a half-blood" interrupted Astoria.

"Eww!" a crowd of students spat which included many seniors. "She is filth" someone spoke from the crowd. It was followed by a series of abuses among other things; people were throwing their stuff on her. To Astoria's luck at that exact moment their prefect, Lenard Yaxley, came and asked everyone to go to their dormitories immediately. Astoria was feeling miserable, she wanted her seven years at Hogwarts to be memorable but she couldn't help but think how would she live here in this hell hole. She had tears falling down her cheeks; they wouldn't stop even if she tried to make them. She wiped them from the back of her sleeves and made her way towards her dormitory. As she entered she realized who she was going to be sharing the dormitory with: Pansy Parkinson, Daphne Greengrass, Millicent Bulstrode and Tracy Davies.

"Look girls it's the filth in our house. Hey Tracy why don't you go and call Filch to clean our dormitory, oh I forgot if Filch threw her in the dustbin she would contaminate all the things already kept to throw out." All the girls laughed. Pansy had made her group of followers on the first day just like Malfoy, _no wonder Draco and Pansy are a match made in hell _Astoria thought. She ignored all of their snide comments and strode towards her bed. She opened her luggage and took out her clothes to change. She entered the bathroom in their dormitory and locked it. She quickly changed and exited the bathroom. She got into her bed and, for the first time in her life, cried herself to sleep.

As Draco tucked him in his bed he couldn't help but think about the tears he saw in Astoria's eyes. He felt bad. He didn't want to make her cry, he… he didn't know what he wanted to do. He knew he should go to her and apologize but a Malfoy never apologizes. He looked around in his dormitory to find everyone sleeping. Probably he did show her who the real boss was but the fact remains unchanged that the happiness he thought he would get in doing so was nowhere to be found. He shook his head to clear his thought process and hoped that tomorrow everything would be just fine.

The next day Astoria woke up early. She just couldn't face all the Slytherins, she needed friends. She reached the Great hall at seven O'clock, at that time only a few others were sitting and having their breakfast. She took a seat and started filling her plate with food, soon a number of students arrived to have their breakfast. Professor Snape soon came to hand the Slytherin house students their time tables.

The whole first week was quite busy; Astoria enjoyed her charms class which was taught by Professor Flitwick. Transfiguration was quite difficult, she thought that Professor McGonagall was quite strict and clever and she really liked her, and she wanted perfect discipline in her class. In their first class they were told to convert a match stick into a needle but she wasn't able to even bring a small change in the match stick. They went to the Greenhouses three times a week to study Herbology which she found very interesting. She found History of Magic lesson quite boring, she was practically sleeping during the entire lesson. She thought Defence against the Dark arts was an interesting subject but she thought Professor Quirrell was quite a funny man. On Friday she had double potions with the Gryffindors which turned out to be a very weird. During the starting of the class Professor Snape just kept glaring at Harry and kept asking him questions to which he didn't know the answer to, he had given them the work to make a simple boils potion. She was grouped with Dean Thomas who looked kind of surprised when she talked to him very politely, they brewed a acceptable potion as it earned Snape's approval nod, the class ended with Neville going to the hospital wing.

During the weekend Astoria felt quite lonely, she was still not able to make any friends. Who knew that reaching late to her next potions class would lead to something good after all.

Astoria was getting very late; she was practically running towards her class. She lowered her speed as she reached the dungeons but that didn't do her any good, she hadn't notice Peeves hovering just above her head until he threw a water balloon at her. She was all wet, her hair and robes were drenched with water, even though she was able to save her books from getting wet, she didn't have time to return to her dormitory and change. She reached the classroom and noticed Professor Snape had already arrived. Snape looked at her with a peculiar expression, the whole class looked at her and she could guarantee that she heard laughs from the Slytherin, to her relief no one in Gryffindor laughed.

"Miss Greengrass, how nice of you to acknowledge us with your presence," Snape said softly.

"Sir, actually Peeves threw a water balloon at me," Astoria said hastily.

With a flick of Snape's wand Astoria was all dried up, "Detention, Miss Greengrass, for turning up late in class, after dinner you can go to Mr Filch he would know what to do." She took her seat at the back of the class next to Neville. Her head was bowed and she had tears in her eyes. She didn't wipe any tears, _I don't have anyone_ she realized which lead to more tears. After the class ended Astoria took her books and walked as quietly as she can. She wished that was invisible to everyone.

She suddenly heard her name, "…..Greengrass yeah she is so…so weird. She was actually weeping in class like a ickle baby," she turned around to see Pansy and her group sniggering. She rolled her eyes and turned away, to her surprise Malfoy and his two friends were standing in front of her blocking her way, she turned back again to find Pansy and her group blocking her way. She was surrounded. _Oh boy _she thought. Crabbe grabbed her bag and pulled it towards himself, in doing so he tore it apart and all her books, quills and ink fell on the ground. Everyone started laughing at her. Pansy grabbed Astoria's rubber band and pulled it, her long hair falling down her back. She felt the other girls pulling it causing her to wince in pain. Malfoy finally pushed her and she fell on her brand new quill, thereby, breaking them. They all laughed and left her like that.

Astoria started to cry, _what have I ever done them _she thought. She picked up all her books and her destroyed bag and went in the common room. She entered her dormitory and threw everything in her trunk. She looked around the common room but no one was there. She didn't want to stay in there alone and realizing that…

She ran.

She kept running till she reached in front the black lake. She walked towards a tree, next to the lake, and sat there. Tears were still streaming down her cheeks. She heard a peculiar sound coming, she looked around to find a toad. It looked like Trevor, Neville's toad. She picked the toad and started talking to him.

"Hi, I'm Astoria and you must be Trevor, nice to meet you. May I ask what are you doing here all alone, you are a very handsome toad don't you have a girlfriend…" she laughed to herself as she went on and on talking to him for the next thirty minutes.

"I see Trevor has made a new friend" Astoria looked up and saw Neville standing next to her. He came and sat next to her. Astoria knew he just wanted his toad back so she held her hand, in which she was holding the toad, towards him. "You can hold him if you want" Neville said. She smiled at him and then looked at Trevor. "He is not very friendly, but I see he is not running away from you, he made another friend today. Now he has a total of three friends: me, gran and you," Neville said. Hearing this Astoria smiled.

"You know he is my first and only friend."

"He is my first friend, too" Astoria smiled at him. After a few minutes of silence Neville said, "May I ask you something?"

Astoria nodded; her head was still bowed as she was caressed Trevor in her hands.

"Why were you crying in Potions class today?"

"I don't know….. probably I felt bad because I had no one to go and talk to. No one with whom I can talk to about how I felt when I got sorted in Slytherin or the fact that I get bullied by all my house mates everyday" she mumbled while wiping her tears.

Neville smiled sadly, "They bully me, too, you know. I know how it feels to be alone in this big castle."

Astoria looked at him, "My mum and dad took it well, my sorting. My dad was in Slytherin and mum was in Gryffindor. My grandparents disowned my father when he decided to marry mum. I am not bad, I have never insulted anyone except Draco Malfoy but I am too scared to insult him now. His two followers are scary and Pansy and her group.. well, they scare me too. I'm not myself anymore, I enjoyed so much when I was at home but now I don't even have anyone to talk to. I wish I could go back in time and stay with mum and dad."

"You are clinging to old things Astoria, to old memories but you very well know that you can't be nine or ten again. Life goes on, it is filled with ups and downs. You need to form new ones, new memories. Anything thing in our life is not permanent, change is constant. Probably these first two weeks were bad but maybe the rest of the first year and the remaining six years might be amazing. You may just have the time of your life" he said.

"You think?" she asked.

"Yeah, definitely. How you this experience change… well that is up to you. It might be difficult in the beginning but slowly it changes from unbearable to amazing and if you just go with it… it can feel like pure adrenaline. Believe me, it gets better."

Astoria looked at Neville with her mouth half open, "Wow Neville, I never thought of it that way."

Neville grinned at her, and to her surprise, she grinned back.

"You just made my day."

"You don't… aren't a Slytherin in heart, you know."

"I know. I would be good in Hufflepuff and their common room is near the kitchens and that gives me full freedom to go there and eat as much as I want," Neville looked at her and started to laugh. He rolled on the ground, laughing. Astoria just stared at him but his laugh was contagious and she also started laughing. They laughed for about five minutes and finally stopped when they were both out of breath.

"Hey Astoria, guess what, you just made your second friend. Good job."

Astoria grinned, "Thank you so much."

Astoria and Neville stayed near the lake, laughing and talking. As the temperature began to fall they headed towards the Great hall. A number of people looked at them curiously, clearly amused by the fact that a Slytherin was hanging out with a Gryffindor. Astoria and Neville sat side by side talking non-stop while filling their mouths with food while earning glares from people. After dinner Astoria bid Neville goodnight and went to Mr Filch for her detention. He made her polish all the trophies.

Astoria became more confident day by day, she was not scared of Draco and pansy's gang anymore. She was good in Herbology, loved Defense against the Dark arts, charms and transfiguration; she was astounded to find that she was pretty good at potions too. The only subject in which she was sure that she'll fail was History of Magic.

As time passed she became close friends with Neville, they shared the same likes and interests. Though the first flying lessons didn't go as well as expected. Neville ended up in the hospital wing but Astoria stood by his side as madam Pomfrey fixed him.

In the Gryffindor Vs Slytherin Quidditch match, where Harry was playing as the seeker, Neville dragged Astoria to sit with the Gryffindors where she earned a few disgusted looks from the people around her. They both had bid Harry good luck before walking towards the Quidditch pitch. Astoria was not at all supporting Slytherin especially after Malfoy practically screamed at her for befriending Longbottom but all she did was to give him one of her haughty smirks. A few time when Astoria looked towards where the Slytherins were sitting she could see many of them glaring at her.

"You got detention! And you didn't even tell me and you went in the forbidden forest. NEVILLE, WHAT THE HELL!" Astoria exclaimed.

"Oh yeah I did, Professor McGonagall gave us and Malfoy scared the hell out of me when he suddenly grabbed me from the back. I got scared and sent red sparks signaling Hagrid to come and rescue us…. Okay to come and rescue me."

Astoria glared at him and said, "I'll kill Malfoy! How dare he do something like that, I will…"

"Astoria, no please its alright. You'll get into trouble and I wouldn't want that."

"Fine!"

Their exams went well. Neville was scared because he had absolutely no expectations in Potions. All of Astoria's exams went well except History of magic, of course.

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville's bravery led to a tremendous change after a total of seven years. Gryffindor had won the house cup. Everyone was happy except the Slytherins. Astoria on the other hand was overjoyed, she had hugged Neville when Gryffindor had won. She very well knew that everyone in her house hated her but she didn't care, she was way too happy to care.

As the exams results Hermione came top of their year, obviously. Astoria was shocked when she realized that she had attained third place followed by Draco Malfoy at fourth place. Neville had said that it was a miracle that he actually passed.

As they rode the Hogwarts express, Neville dragged Astoria all over the train from compartment to compartment. He introduced her as his best friend which came as a shock to most of the people but after talking to her they also realized that they have a peculiar Slytherin. She met Terry Boot, Lavender Brown, Padma and Parvati Patel, Hannah Abbott and many others. When they reached Harry, Ron and Hermione's compartment, all of them started apologizing to Neville for using a body-binding curse on him. Astoria had a good laugh with all four of them especially after Ron's confession that she was and will probably be the only Slytherin that he would like to talk to.

As the train finally reached King Cross, all the students got off it. Neville introduced Astoria to his gran, Augusta Longbottom. Astoria's mother liked Neville, she thought that he was an amusing boy. Margaret and Augusta shared a hearty laugh before they finally departed with their families.

Astoria was happy, she was loving every moment in her life even if she saw Draco Malfoy glaring at her as she exited platform nine and three quarters. Neville was right, change can be good.

"Now I know why Professor Longbottom sometimes used to ask me how mum was," said Scorpius.

"I really liked Professor Longbottom. I kind of had a tiny crush on him but only in the first and second year" Emily said, her face slightly red.

"What!" said Draco.

"Dad that was a long time ago. So mum was his best friend?" said Emily.

"Yeah. But I hated him" said Draco.

"Why?" Emily and Scorpius asked.

"Because he made Astoria laugh. I only made your mum cry, a number of times in the first year but as we grew it was more like a battle of wits between us. Till the sixth year, of course. Seventh year was too scary."

"But dad now you can make mum laugh" Emily said.

"Yes, yes I can." Draco starts laughing, Emily and Scorpius looked at him curiously. "Frankly speaking your mum was a total bitch…"

"Dad!" Emily and Scorpius shouted.

"…and well I was a bloody fucking bastard. But who knew when both these people actually share their feelings with each other it could lead to something so beautiful and amazing. I wonder what would have happened to me if I wasn't transferred to England. You both would have been imaginary…"

**Comment please. Thank you. **


	7. Chapter 7- Swine Injured

**Chapter 7- Swine Injured **

**Disclaimer: I have not ever owned Harry Potter, I do not own Harry Potter, and I won't ever own it either.**

**A/N: Sorry for the delay but now the chapter is here, so enjoy.  
**

* * *

The summer holidays passed very quickly. Margaret was overjoyed, both her angels were back home and in front of her. She wanted her children to know how much she missed both of them and she showed that by making her signature cuisines everyday for the rest of the holidays. Even though Astoria and Orion did not like seeing their mother labor in the kitchen all day, they loved her cooking. Cepheus was also very happy seeing both his little warriors back home. It was a bit lonely when their home was only occupied by Margaret and him but they both indeed enjoyed having no kid interrupt them when they were having a private moment.

Astoria had told her parents how she felt when she was sorted in Slytherin. She told them about her first two weeks which were extremely brutal. Cepheus was easily able to connect with his daughter on that matter. He was also bullied until he finally found his feet and emerged as a big hearted Slytherin, who were very rare. Astoria, well was one of those rare people. She had a big heart and was nowhere near like those ruddy pureblooded bastards.

Astoria had been writing to Neville all summer. He told her about his holidays which had been as boring as hers. Neville had come to her house five or six times and she enjoyed every minute of it. She showed him around her house and around town. Whenever Astoria went to Neville's grandma used to tell her about how she thought that he was a squib but was quite surprised when she saw that he indeed had magical abilities.

Astoria also wrote to Ginny, Harry, Hermione and Ron but she only got reply from Hermione and Ron. Both of them were worried because Harry hadn't replied to any of their letters. Ginny told her about how excited she was to finally attend Hogwarts. Astoria was happy that none of them had shunned her because she was a Slytherin and Ron surprised her most by saying that she was the only Slytherin that he would ever be able to tolerate.

Astoria had woken up early to go to Patrick's house. Patrick was quite startled to see Astoria almost about eleven months later and had surprised her by kissing her left her cheek.

"What was that for?" Astoria said with a huge grin on her face, trying to avoid her cheeks from getting red.

"I don't know, I just missed you," Patrick said confidently.

"Really! Okay. Alright then. It's just my new school. Its brilliant and I am so sorry that I wasn't able to write to you at all. There were just some bullies who made it difficult for me to comprehend anything but how to run from one class to another and then there was Draco Malfoy, bloody prat I tell you, who was a total pain in the arse and then I met Neville and he…."

"Wait! Neville? Draco? Who are those people?" Patrick asked.

"… oh Neville is my best friend and Draco is my enemy. I mean I never had an enemy in my entire life and then suddenly life throws one at me."

"You should stay away from that boy, Draco. He is bad news."

"He is. And you know there is a group of girls, Pansy's group and…"

"Hey, Hey! I don't want to hear anything about your classmates anymore," Patrick extended his hands towards her, beckoning her to sit on the grass, "so now you sit next to me and tell me how have you been?" Patrick said, brushing a strand of hair out of her face as she sat next to him.

Astoria grinned, "Are you sure? I might just bore you to hell."

"I don't care as long as I can sit next to you and admire your beau….stories," Patrick said.

"Did you just call me beautiful?" Astoria said as she ruffled his hair.

Patrick winked at her, "Maybe yes, maybe no."

"Pathetic! But if you are so eager I'll tell you about myself, even though I hate doing that." Astoria sat next to Pattrick and told him all her feeling over the past year, avoiding using the words magic and muggle.

Astoria returned home at about seven o'clock. She was a bit surprised by Patrick's behavior and decided to ask her mum about it. As she entered the kitchen she saw her mum cooking chicken, its aroma was spread all over the kitchen, and Orion was writing a letter. _Wait what! He never writes a letter to anyone except for mum and dad_ Astoria thought. She shock those thoughts and walked towards her mum.

"Mum Patricks acting weird," Astoria said.

"Oh I know he has a crush on you. Wait, you realized that today. My god Astoria that poor little boy has been trying to charm you since the first day you met him," Margaret said.

"Mum, how did you know that?" Astoria asked.

"Are you really that blind Tor, even I knew that!" Orion said.

"Shut up!" Astoria picked up an onion and threw it towards him. Orion looked at her, anger filled in his eyes. He was about to have a wrestling match with her when their mother stopped them.

"No fighting in my house! Orion go and finish writing the letter for your girlfriend…"

"Oh! Orion has a girlfriend! Now isn't that precious," Astoria spat.

"My god you are annoying. No wonder you were sorted in Slytherin. Poor Neville.." Orion yelled.

"Enough! Orion, honey please take the ink and parchment in the living room and finish your letter. Now, what was your question darling?" Margaret asked, calmly.

"How did you know that Patrick has a tiny crush on me?"

"Oh Astoria! I am your mum, I know everything. When you'll be a mum one day then you'll know too," Margaret smiled.

"Mum! I don't think that is going to happen anytime soon."

"Pity! I wanted grandchildren."

"Mum!"

"Sorry! So how is the boy who you complain about a lot? What's his name? Ah… Draco right," Margaret said, grinning at her.

"Mum I hate him and he is pathetic and obnoxious and…"

"You know sweety there is a type of relationship where there is a very-very thin line between love and hate. Is the relationship between you both that kind of?" Margaret.

Astoria stared at her mother in disbelief, "No mum, absolutely not!"

"Fine, sorry! Now will you help your mum and set the dining table"

"All right! But just for you." Margaret nodded and kissed Astoria on her forehead.

Margaret shook her head, not believing any word her daughter just said about the blonde haired boy(The way Astoria called him).

She knew better.

* * *

The second year had begun and Astoria found herself sitting on the Hogwarts express after two months. Neville had found her sitting alone in a cabin and joined her. Astoria and Neville sat together and ate a full box of Bertie Botts Every Flavoured Beans. Astoria had bought the 25# edition of The Adventures of Martin Miggs, the mad muggle for Neville.

"You didn't have to buy me anything Astoria," Neville said.

Astoria smiled, "I know I didn't have to but I wanted to."

Neville squeaked like a little girl and started reading the comic then and there. Astoria was happy. Everything was going great, Malfoy had not troubled her since she got on the train, Neville liked her gift and she was not afraid anymore, of anyone except of course Professor Snape. Her thought process was interrupted when Hermione came and sat on the seat opposite to the seat occupied by Neville and her.

"Hermione is everything okay?" she asked.

"No! Everything is not okay because I searched all over the train but was not able to find Ronald and Harry. Where are they?" Hermione exclaimed.

"How can they not be on the train? They have to be on the train because if they are not then where are they?" said Neville.

That question was later answered at the feast when everyone was talking about Ron Weasley and Harry Potter arriving at Hogwarts on a flying Ford Anglia. Astoria couldn't believe what she had heard and she thought it was absolutely brilliant and seeing the smug expression on Malfoy's face was just the cherry on top.

Next morning as Neville and Astoria sat in the great hall eating their breakfast Ron and Harry entered the Great Hall.

"Hey! Are you both alright?" Astoria asked.

"Yeah!" both Ron and Harry said together.

Astoria and Neville stopped eating and looked up to see a large number of owls circling around the great hall to deliver packages. Neville got a package from his gran and Ron, well he received a howler. It was pretty brutal, _Poor Ron_ Astoria thought.

Malfoy had become more arrogant than first year. He had his control over most of the Slytherin's which luckily did not include Astoria. It was a big shock for Astoria when she heard the shocking news from Neville that Draco Malfoy was the new Slytherin Seeker.

"What the hell! Please tell me that you're joking Neville?!" Astoria yelled.

"I am not at all joking Tor."

"No! This can't be happening, now he will become cockier than ever. THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!" Astoria shouted.

"Don't you think that you are over-reacting Astoria?" Neville questioned her.

"Oh! Yeah! Sorry!"

"And he called Hermione th-tha-that pathetic word.."

"What does that bastard think of himself? I'm gonna…"

"Astoria why are you so angry? Calm down please," Neville said while patting her back.

Soon it was Halloween and everything begun to go very bad. It all started when everyone was heading back to their respective common room when they all stopped at a corridor. There was a large puddle of water on the floor and something was written on the wall.

THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED.  
ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.

There was a dark shadow beneath it and when Astoria realized what it was she leapt backwards, stepping on the person's shoes standing behind her. Mrs Norris, the Filch's cat, was hanging by her tail from the torch bracket. Everyone was just standing there, in the middle of the corridor, staring at the wall until someone finally broke the silence.

"Enemies of the heir, beware! You'll be next, Mudbloods!" said Malfoy. His face was lit with happiness like a Christmas tree on Christmas.

After that everyone else were asked to go back to their common rooms except Harry, Ron and Hermione. As Astoria entered the common room she grabbed Malfoy's robes, preventing him from going to his dormitory.

"What is your problem, Greengrass?" Malfoy snapped.

"What did you mean when you said, 'You'll be next, Mudbloods!' ?"

"You're smart, aren't you Greengrass. Figure it out yourself," Malfoy smirked.

"Aren't you in danger?" Astoria asked.

Malfoy grinned, "Why would I be in danger? I'm a pureblood. I don't know about you." Malfoy smirked again and went towards his dormitory.

Astoria was scared. She told Neville about her insecurities and he tried to make her feel less scared than she already was. He knew Astoria very well after being her friend for almost a year now and knew how to calm her.

Astoria noticed that Ginny was quite distant. She didn't even talk to her. They had known each other for years and now she acted as if Astoria was a stranger. She just kept writing in her diary, all the bloody time.

It was the day of the Quidditch match everyone was so eagerly waiting for, Gryffindor Vs Slytherin. Astoria as always was sitting next to Neville surrounded by all the other Gryffindors. During the first year they actually threw dirty looks at her but now everyone acted that she belonged to their side, she didn't feel that she was the out of place but she felt that she belonged where she was.

As the Gryffindor quidditch team players walked out onto the pitch, they were greeted with a roar of noise, mainly cheers, from all the three houses except Slytherin. As the Slytherin quidditch team players entered, they were greeted with boos and hisses. Astoria was one of the people who actually booed at the Slytherin.

"How does it feel to be a traitor to your own house?" Neville asked, laughing heartily.

"It's the most amazing feeling in the world. Believe me," Astoria grinned as she looked up at the sky, covered with clouds.

When Astoria heard Madam Hooch's whistle, she tore her eyes off the sky and looked at the players. She spotted Malfoy hovering at one end of the Quidditch pitch as he continued to search for the snitch. "_Probably Malfoy did work hard to get into the team, maybe he practiced the whole summer on his Comet sixty before his father bought him the new Nimbus 2001. But whats the odd of that happening" _Astoria thought. "_He looks so so… so handsome in those emerald coloured quidditch robes and his hair looks so per….. wait what are you thinking Astoria? Have you gone completely insane. Don't let your female mind take over control over you. Focus on the game and not Malfoy… Focus, Focus and Focus."_

As Astoria looked back towards the quidditch pitch she felt something drop on her head. She looked up and realized that it was starting to rain. Heavy droplets of water fell, soaking all the quidditch players and all the audience from head to toe. Astoria was enjoying herself, she loved rain, she was feeling every drop of water falling on her face. She looked up to see Malfoy looking at her and smirking. She narrowed her eyes but before that he winked at her and rode towards the other end of the pitch.

In the end due to Malfoy's stupidity Slytherin's lost. He was so busy laughing at Harry that he did not even see the snitch floating next to his ear. Harry ended up in the hospital wing because of Professor Lockhart. Astoria bought Harry some muffins from the kitchens, which he really appreciated.

"Thanks Astoria," Harry said.

Astoria smiled at him and said, "No, thank you."

"Why?" Harry asked as he sat there confused by her response.

"Well, you kicked Malfoy's arse today. Now he will just shut up for a few days. A big relief for me," Astoria grinned.

Harry grinned too and said, "It will always remain a mystery to me, you know. How did you get sorted in Slytherin because you are definitely an odd one."

"I don't know myself. Hey, I should go or Madam Pomfrey will murder me. Bye Harry, take care."

As she entered the common room she saw all the members of the Slytherin quidditch team shouting at Malfoy. She stepped closer to see what all that was about when she heard Marcus Flint.

"What the hell Malfoy! The snitch was just next to you but you were too blind to see it. Am I right?" Flint yelled.

"It wasn't my fault. I promise next time that won't happen," said Malfoy.

"It better not because if it does then you're out of the team," Flint said as he made his way up his dormitory.

Astoria noticed that everyone else had already left the common room. Only Malfoy sat by the fire looking at the wall, as if he was trying to find something.

"Are you okay?" Astoria asked.

"I'm fine Greengrass. Now get the hell out of here," Malfoy snapped.

"I was only trying to help. Pathetic Malfoy, can't you understand when someone is trying to help you," Astoria snapped.

Draco simply turned to look at her. As he saw her he smirked, "You are all wet. I saw you today, enjoying the rain as it fell. I have never seen someone enjoy it. Mostly everyone try to protect themselves from it."

"I love rain" Astoria said.

"Me too" Malfoy smiled looking back towards the wall.

Astoria was astonished; Malfoy had smiled and not smirked. It was a miracle. "You know, you are not a bad seeker. You are pretty good, you just need more practice. Try to concentrate on the game and not on irritating Harry."

"Says the person who was cheering for Gryffindor," he said.

"Fine! You want to be like that then I am going to leave you alone to sulk. Good night… no bad night, yeah… oh shut up Astoria," she yelled as she ran towards her dormitory.

Malfoy sat in his place smirking at the reaction he got from Astoria. _"She is completely mad. But she looked so pretty when she was getting soaked up in the rain,"_ he thought. As he got up to finally head to his room he realized that she was right. He had to work on his game. He shook his head in order to remove all the thoughts coming to his mind about Astoria.

"Bloody Greengrass!" Malfoy smirked as once again thoughts about Astoria had taken over his brain.

The rest of the year passed by really quickly. It consisted of parts where Neville and Astoria simply couldn't stop laughing when Malfoy tried to butter up Professor Snape and parts where they couldn't believe what they had heard. The most surprising was when Hermione was attacked.  
The professors were working very hard as they continued to brew a potion from Mandrakes to revive all the students who had been petrified. It was later that they heard the news that Ginny was the one who had opened the chamber of secrets because Voldemort had managed to enchant her.

Ginny was sent to the hospital wing so that Madam Pomfrey could heal her wounds. As she exited the room, she saw Astoria and Neville standing next to the door talking in hushed voices. Astoria turned around to look at Ginny who had her head bowed down.

"You alright, Ginny?" Astoria asked.

"Why are you both talking to me after what I did?" Ginny said.

"Because we are your friends. Right Neville?" He nodded. "Even though you have been ignoring me all throughout the year I…"

"I wasn't trying to avoid you Astoria it's just that…"

"Ginny! Hey it's alright. Let's just forget all about it, okay. Now everything is fine." No sooner did she finish her sentence than Ginny hugged her. Astoria was speechless but she hugged Ginny back. It was nice to know that a person who didn't talk to you for an entire year still considers you her friend.

* * *

This marked an end to Astoria's second year and she was back home. As usual Margaret went into overdrive and prepared her signature dishes for both Astoria and Orion, three times a day. Cepheus wanted both his kids to learn horse ridding because he never got a chance to learn and also because he loved horses.

Astoria had thought that these summer holidays would be just like previous years where she helped her mum(sometimes) in the kitchen with Orion, Cepheus taking them to an amusement park, writing letters to her friends, visiting Neville's home and spending time with Patrick. But she was wrong because as her thirteen birthday arrived she felt herself getting angry at little things. She had a number of mood swings and she wanted to be alone all the time. She got fed up one day and went to ask her mom the reason behind it.

"Oh! Astoria now that you are growing up, you are in a stage where you'll get angry at all times at me or your father. You will get attracted to the opposite sex and you will grow up….into a woman. Frankly speaking I hated that phase. I had acne all over my face and I used to get irritated so much. Your grandma and I used to have a lot of fights on what type of clothes I should wear, how to prevent attracting too much male attention and how to be yourself. But thankfully both Orion and you have inherited your father's genes on that and believe me he was very calm and cool minded at this stage which is good. Now why don't you go and try to sleep its getting quite late."

Margaret mother was right. Within the next month Astoria grew taller than she already was. Her skin did not turn up like her mother but like her father, it shined. Her cheeks had obtained a natural pink colour. Her black hair was longer than before and shined.

Astoria went to visit Patrick after a year and to her surprise he had grown up too. He was taller than her and now had great teeth due to the regular dentist appointments.

"My my Astoria! You look even more beautiful than before," Patrick complemented her.

"Shut up!"

"What! I can't even complement a pretty lady?" he exclaimed.

"No! You can't," Astoria said.

"Well I will do that."

Astoria was grinning from ear to ear.

"I really-really missed you Tor," Patrick said, blushing.

Astoria grinned, "I missed you too"

Later that evening during dinner, Cepheus looked very tensed. Margaret had noticed this and asked him the reason behind it. He sighed and told them about the escape of the mass murderer Sirius Black. The entire ministry was in a state of panic.

A month later Astoria was boarding the Hogwarts train again. Orion had dragged Astoria to sit with him. It was like a nightmare for her, looking at her brother as he shamelessly flirted with him girlfriend and he was not even bothered by the fact that his little sister was sitting in the same compartment as he was. She just had had enough when both of them started kissing and Astoria ran out of the compartment to look for Neville.

As she was walking she heard a someone's voice, a person who she had pledged to stay away from, Malfoy. She saw him open a compartment door a few feet away from her. "Well, look who it is, Potty and the Weasel." She ran back towards Orion's compartment to avoid Malfoy. As she entered Orion and his girlfriend, Becky, broke apart to see who had interrupted them.

"Astoria what the hell are you…" Orion said.

"Orion listen to me…" Astoria said. But before she could complete it Orion picked him little sister up and put her outside the compartment and closed the door after mouthing the words 'Come back after ten minutes'.

She gaped at her brother as he went back to kissing Becky. _"Pathetic,"_ Astoria thought. As she turned to go towards any other compartment she unfortunately collided with the beast.

"Watch where you're going you….. Greengrass! Didn't see you there," said Malfoy.

"Shove off Malfoy I have to go… somewhere else," said Astoria.

"Alright! Oi Greengrass, I was thinking why we aren't on first name basis, may I ask?" asked Malfoy.

"Because you're a prat Malfoy and I'd rather kill myself than call you by your first name," Astoria spat.

Malfoy smirked, "Oh come on Gre… Astoria, you very well know I'm not that bad."

"Okay ummm…" said Astoria. "_What was his name? What the hell Astoria? Think! Think! Think! Damnit I'll just ask him," _Astoria thought. "What was your name again?"

Draco's eyes were wide in disbelief, "You forgot MY name. That's just preposterous. You know what forget what I just said Greengrass," Malfoy went away muttering, "Bloody Greengrass."

She returned to Orion's compartment, smirking to herself. Suddenly the train stopped. "Whats happening? We haven't reached yet, then why are we stopping?" asked Becky.

"I don't know," stated Orion, looking outside the window to check for signs of any kind of movement.

Everything went cold, it felt as if no happiness existed in the world. Suddenly they saw something passing their compartment, a hooded figure, a dementer. All three of them sat very still as it passed them. After a few minutes everything went back to normal. "What was a dementer doing here?" asked Astoria. "I think its looking for someone, they guard Azkaban so probably a prisoner," said Orion. "Sirius Black," stated Becky. Astoria and Orion nodded in agreement.

Astoria got off the train and ran into Neville and Ginny who were both looking for her.

"Where were you?" both of them shouted.

"Sorry," Astoria muttered.

"Come on now or we'll miss the carriages," Ginny said. They all ran towards one carriage and sat into it.

The next day as all three of them sat in the Great hall eating breakfast they heard a load noise coming from the Slytherin table where everyone was laughing at a little act set up by Draco and Pansy.

"He is such a coward but infront of his followers he acts like he is not scared of anything. Evil prick!" whispered Astoria to Neville and Ginny.

"Which extra classes have you taken?" asked Neville as he started applying butter to his toast.

"I have taken Care of Magical Creatures and Arithmancy." Neville nodded.

As breakfast ended and their first class was about to start, Astoria stuffed her mouth with bacon before taking off. She heard Neville yell that he'll meet her in Care of Magical Creatures class.

After lunch, she met Neville standing next to a tree waiting for her and they together walked in the Forbidden Forest. Malfoy, with Crabbe and Goyle, was walking behind them and he continued to insult Hagrid without any fear of being heard. Astoria was hoping that if both, Neville and her, walked very quietly then Malfoy won't notice them but whatever Astoria hopes for, always opposite happens to her.

"Don't tell me Greengrass, is Longbottom your boyfriend because you happen to spend a lot of time with him. Its quite a shock to me really, I thought you could do a lot better than that Greengrass..."

"Do you even think before speaking Malfoy... Oh I'm so sorry I forgot that you don't have a brain to think or understand, so let me make it very clear Malfoy JUST STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM US and even if I was dating Neville, well lets just say that it is none of your bussiness," said Astoria with a smug grin plastered on her face

"Well I just have to say that you have a very bad taste in men," Draco said.

"You are thirteen years old and you consider yourself a man... You know what, just think whatever you want to because I really DON'T CARE!"

"Feisty. I like that!" Draco smirked.

"What the..."

Neville grabbed Astoria's hand and led her towards the other side. "Leave it Astoria, it's just a waste of time," Neville said. They reached a kind of paddock. There was nothing in there.

"Everyone gather 'round the fence here!" Hagrid called. "That's it - make sure yeh can see - now, firs' thing yeh'll want ter do is open yer books -"

"How?" said the cold, drawling voice of Draco Malfoy. Astoria couldn't help but role her eyes.

"Eh?" said Hagrid.

"How do we open our books?" Malfoy repeated. He took out his copy of The Monster Book of Monsters, which he had bound shut with a length of rope. Astoria had tied her book with a rope too and she was quite hesitant in opening her own book.  
"Hasn' - hasn' anyone bin able ter open their books?" said Hagrid, looking crestfallen.  
The class all shook their heads.  
"Yeh've got ter stroke 'em," said Hagrid, as though this was the most obvious thing in the world. "Look -"

Hagrid took Hermione's book and showed the class how to open their books.  
Astoria stroked it and finally was able to open it. Neville was still struggling though. Astoria tried to dust off the dirt sticking on Neville's cloak as he had fallen while opening his book. Astoria heard Draco mocking poor Harry, again and this time he had reached a new low.

They now looked towards the paddock and saw a dozen bizarre creatures, Hippogriffs. Hagrid started explaining to them all about Hippogriffs and their behavior. As usual Malfoy wasn't listening and Pansy was listening intently to whatever he was saying.

Harry was the only one brave enough to go near them. But this was something which was not tolerated by Draco Malfoy. According to Astoria, that was the best Care of Magical Creatures ever.

"I think I am in love with Buckbeak," Astoria whispered in Neville's ear. Neville couldn't help but laugh.

But Astoria's happiness was only short lived because she found herself standing outside the hospital wing, on Snape's orders, to deliver Malfoy his homework assignment. Astoria groaned to herself as she entered the hospital wing and saw Malfoy lying on a bed, clutching his arm and a smirk playing on his face.

Astoria dropped his homework on his bed near his leg and said, "Here is your bloody assignment."

"Easy Greengrass!" Malfoy said.

Astoria simply rolled her eyes. "You swine!" she scowled.

Draco smirked, "As I said, Feistier than ever."

She looked all around the room to find that none of his so called friends were there. "Where are all your friends?"

Draco simply shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know. Probably in the common room, why?"

"What type of friends you have, who does not even bother to visit you when you are um…. Here," she said.

"You're here" Malfoy stated, looking directly into her eyes.

Astoria stared at him in disbelief, "You look fine… I should go now."

"Asto…." Before Draco could say anything, she ran out of the hospital wing. _Did I make her uncomfortable_ Draco thought. He shoved all those ideas out of his head and started looking at the rolls of parchment kept next to his feet.

With dementers floating all over the school, Sirius Black entering the castle and the flight of the fat lady, every student was in a state of panic. When the portrait of the fat lady was attacked by Sirius Black, everyone had to assemble in the Great Hall. All the members of each house had occupied a particular corner of the Great hall. Astoria was stuck with her sleeping bag next to the insolent prat, Malfoy. They hadn't acknowledged each other after their meeting in the Hospital wing. Pansy was furious because her sleeping bag was not next or near Draco's.

As Astoria tucked herself in the sleeping bag, she noticed Draco looking at her the way he looked in the Hospital wing. She felt uneasy with his deep grey eyes staring at her. He didn't have his smirk on his face but a concerned look. She was scared, that was quite obvious because she was literally shivering. She didn't at all looked like the confident Astoria that she always was. Draco, as a matter of fact, had noticed this.

He pulled his sleeping bag a little closer to her. Nobody had noticed this action except Astoria. He extended his one hand and clasped it with Astoria's hand. He give a gentle a gentle squeeze, which was a sign to assure her that she had nothing to be scared of. Both of them felt something, something strong and powerful. The feeling was electrifying and something that they had never felt. She gave him a small smile and nod. Both of them hand in hand drifted into peaceful sleep, entering their small world of dreams.

The next day she had told her situation of last night to Neville and Ginny. Neville was not able to say anything on that matter because he was himself confused by Malfoy's behavior. Ginny on the other hand just kept mocking her.

"Malfoy and you, holding hands. Awww.. curious but so sweet Tor."

Astoria scowled, "Ginny!" But all three of them soon realized that it was only because the scary atmosphere that night, among everyone, because Malfoy had started mocking them in a more furious way.

The quidditch final had arrived soon, Gryffindor Versus Slytherin. It was the match everyone was looking forward. Astoria and Neville as always sat together, cheering Gryffindor. Both of them were holding the banner 'LIONS FOR THE CUP'. Like last year Astoria boed for the Slytherin team. When Draco had walked on the quidditch pitch, he looked directly towards her. It was like he already knew that she was sitting in that place.

Gryffindor had won, it was a close call but the Lions were the best. There was no doubt in that. Astoria and Neville rushed towards the place where Harry was holding the trophy. After chanting for Gryffindor for a few minutes, she looked towards the Slytherin team. They were heading towards their changing room, disappointed. She excused herself from the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Rawenclaws and headed towards the changing room.

She saw Malfoy leaning against the tent, his head bowed down and she could hear someone sobbing. _Is Malfoy crying?_ Astroia thought. She slowly walked towards him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Malfoy," she spoke very softly.

He flinched at her touch. She quickly removed her hand and stood right infront of him.

"Are you okay Dra.. Draco?"

"Of course I am okay Astoria, I am overjoyed that we lost even after hours and hours of practice," he snapped at her.

She took her hand and placed it with his, giving it a tight squeeze like he did when she had been scared. The feeling was the same as both of them had felt before, it was electrifying but just perfect. He raised his head and looked at her. She also looked into his eyes, as she tried to decipher his feelings through his eyes.

"You did good," she assured him.

He simply nodded not averting his gaze from her eyes. Astoria doing the same while she continued holding his hand.

She heard someone calling her name and suddenly both of them snapped back to reality. She removed her hand from his and ran towards the castle. Draco kept looking at her, trying to comprehend what had just happened.

As the year ended something had surely changed. But that something was not realized by either of them any time sooner.

* * *

"Electrifying!" Scorpius exclaimed.

"Yes." Draco said, smiling to himself.

"Have you met that Patrick guy, dad?" Scorpius asked.

"Yeah! Your mum and I went to his wedding in New York. He was kind of surprised to see me because your mum had said many bad things about me. But it was nice there. And you know the best thing that Astoria told me in our hotel room there.."

"What?" both Emily and Scorpius asked.

"That she was pregnant with you, Scorpius."

Scorpius and Emily grinned at each other.

"Do you still feel that when you hold mum's hand?" Emily asked.

"Emily you mad, how could dad…." Scorpius exclaimed.

Draco cleared his throat to stop both Scorpius and Emily from talking, "I feel it every day. It is just so powerful, so….so amazing feeling." Draco said smiling broadly as he gazed at his wedding ring. "Where is Astoria? Its only been an hour and I'm missing her already."

Scorpius and Emily smiled at their father.

* * *

**Song: The Wanted- Rocket**

**Review please. :)**


	8. Chapter 8- Things turn the ferret down

**Chapter 8- Things turn the ferret down **

**Disclaimer: I have not ever owned Harry Potter, I do not own Harry Potter, and I won't ever own it either.**

**I am so so sorry for the delay. Hope you enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

Everyone was eagerly waiting for this year's summer holidays because one of the biggest wizarding events was about to be held, the 422nd Quidditch world cup. The Greengrass family was no exception still there was a problem, the tickets were too expensive and they were not very rich. Cepheus didn't want to the only ministry employ that did not attend the cup and then later get mocked by his colleagues. He wouldn't let that happen. He was working extra shifts at the ministry, in a way he was literally stressing himself out. Margaret was not able to see her husband in so much stress. She had even suggested skipping the tournament this year and going in the 423rd Quidditch world cup, four years later. He did consider her suggestion yet he couldn't bring himself to do so. He neither wanted to disappoint his children nor did he want Margaret to worry too much. Margaret on the other hand had had enough and couldn't possibly see her darling, Cepheus, labour anymore and decided to ask or rather order Cepheus to stop all this work and come home to spend time with his kids.

As dinner commenced, Margaret cleared her throat in order to draw everyone's attention. "Cepheus, sweetheart I want to talk to you about something," she says coldly. Cepheus looks at her and nods. She continues, "As I was saying, I think you should just…just stop, okay."

Cepheus looks at her with a confused expression, "What do you mean, darling?"

"Yo..you are stressing yourself out and I cannot see you li.. like this," Margaret said as a few tears fell from her eyes and she hastily wiped them with a napkin.

Cepheus quickly got up from his seat and went towards Margaret. He gently cupped her cheeks and with his thumb brushed the tears that had fallen from her eyes. "You know how much I hate myself when you cry especially if I am the reason behind those tears," Cepheus said softly.

Margaret nodded and moved her head to rest on his shoulders. Cepheus could still hear her sobbing. Margaret removed her head from his shoulders and looked towards her kids, both of them were looking towards the other direction, away from their parents. She wiped away her tears and said, "Okay seriously you both are just impossible!"

Orion and Astoria couldn't help but chortle after seeing their mother's reaction. "When you both will have someone you love more than anything in the entire world then you won't even care if your own children are sitting right in front of you. Its only the love that matters. Believe me, when you'll look at that person's eyes you will feel like you are in heaven." Margaret said looking in Cepheus eyes as both of them continued to smile and making lovey-dovey eyes at each other.

Orion snorted, "I don't think so that that will ever happen to me…"

"Yeah, you just prefer snogging your girlfriend senselessly," Astoria spat.

Margaret leapt out off her seat and hugged her son tightly, "Oh my baby has a girlfriend. So what is the lovely girls name?"

"No mum its nothing serious, we both are just… umm.. you know.. fooling around," Orion said, biting his lip.

Margaret raised her eyebrows and glared at Cepheus who was chuckling, "Orion! That's just pathetic, you will be seventeen next year.. almost a man and a man does not fool around with women. He…"

"..can legally drink alcohol, go to night clubs …." interrupted Orion.

"Orion, that's enough! Both of you finish your meal," Cepheus said, angrily.

It was finally decided that they won't be attending the tournament instead they would listen about it on the wizarding radio. Astoria and Orion were sad but their mother was right, their father used to work twenty hours a day, he needed rest.

A few days later Margaret received a letter addressed to Astoria from Patrick. When she came downstairs for breakfast, Margaret gave it to her. She opened the letter, while eating a sausage and was shocked. She quickly ate her breakfast and told Margaret that she was going out. She ran, for a good fifteen minutes, until she finally reached his house. A moving truck was standing outside the house. Astoria said hello to Patrick's mum and dad and entered their home. It was empty, every piece of furniture was removed from its place and just like that, her heart broke. She dashed towards the stairs and into Patrick's room. He was fully dressed to leave. He turned and smiled as he saw her.

"What the hell!" Astoria said breathlessly.

"Dad's job. They transferred him to New York. We all are moving to the United Stated of America," he said, looking at the ground.

Tears dropped from Astoria's eyes onto the wooden floor but she continued to glare at him. She wiped them and said, "Whatever! I really do not care."

Patrick moved closer, towering her. He lifted her face to look at him, directly. He then hugged her, very tightly. He felt that if he let go of her he'll never be the same again. After a few minutes, he let go of her. She quickly looked away and wiped the tears that had fallen from her eyes. He lifted her head again so that he could look at her. The situation had become too intense for either of their liking. They both grinned at each other and started laughing.

He grabbed her hand and led her outside the house where his parents were standing a few minutes ago. He turned towards her and hugged her tightly, again, so tightly that she wasn't able to breathe properly, "I will write to you, okay. And don't you ever dare to forget me."  
"Umm.. Who are you? I don't recall… oh my ar.. are you my cousin, Daphne?" Astoria said, pretending to look confused and waving her hands in the air as if she was trying to get rid of something on top of her head.  
"Yeah, I'll miss you too," he said with a smirk.

Patrick kissed her cheeks and let go of her hand. He = went to sit in the car, beside his mother and father. The engine of the car started with a roar, emitting a huge cloud of smoke. Patrick opened the car window and waved towards her. She grinned and waved back.

Later that night during dinner everyone was very quiet. Everyone had a neutral expression on their faces except for Cepheus and Astoria. Cepheus, was beaming and humming a Celestina Warbeck song, as he ate his steak while Astoria, on the other hand, kept mumbling curse words and added the word 'Patrick' before or after that such as 'Patrick, the sniveling bastard' or 'Patrick the bloody fucking arsehole' etc. As everyone finished their steak and began to leave the table, Cepheus stopped them.

"Astoria, sweetheart, please stop mumbling curses for that boy because the thing I am going to tell you will make you so happy that you'll fall out of the chair, again." Astoria blushed remembering her reaction when she had received her Hogwarts letter and nodded.

"Okay so, Margaret you remember Mr Misra, who works in the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad as an Obliviator… yes, so he had to go to his sister's wedding and therefore, he won't be able to go to the Quidditch world cup."

"Okay…. So?" Margaret questioned.

Cepheus grinned, "He had four tickets but now as he couldn't possibly go. Therefore, their tickets were going to be wasted..." Margaret nodded again. "So he offered me his four tickets. I didn't want to have a dept and I refused but he insisted me to take them."

Everyone stared at Cepheus with their eyes wide and mouth wide open. He laughed and said, "Yes, we are going to the world cup!"

Orion jumped from his chair and hugged his father, followed by Astoria and Margaret. Cepheus looked at Astoria and Orion and asked, "Now are you both happy?" They grinned and nodded.

"What happened now, Margaret?" Cepheus asked, looking at the worried expression on his wife's face.

"What if he blackmailed you later about…." Cepheus smiled and said, "We were at Hogwarts together and he is a good man, he won't do such a thing." Cepheus continues, "The seats are quite low and by quite low I mean the second last row and…" but before Cepheus could continue Orion interrupted him and said, "No worries dad, we'll manage."

A week later Astoria's and Orion's Hogwarts letters came but there was something peculiar in them, they were asked to bring dress robes.

"Dress robes?! What for?" Orion asked.

"Both of you will know when you reach Hogwarts," Margaret said, calmly.

"We don't have dress robes!" Astoria whispered to Orion and he nodded in agreement.

But Margaret heard that and turned to look at her children, sitting on the floor while looking, quizzically, at the parchment in their hands.

Margaret sat in front of them and took the parchment from their hands. At that same time Cepheus returned from the ministry and was quite confused when he looked at the scene in front of him.

"What's all this about?" Cepheus said, kissing Margaret on her cheeks. Margaret looked at him with her eyebrows raised. "Oh! Yes now I remember. Sorry dear," Cepheus said quickly and took a cookie from the plate kept on the kitchen counter.

"Okay, so yes you both need dress robes for an event to be held at Hogwarts this year. Unfortunately, we can't buy new dress robes…"

Astoria interrupted, "We don't need new dress robes and if this event requires them, then we won't go. It doesn't matter." Orion nodded.

Margaret looked at Cepheus, who was simply smiling. "Darling you both will be going. I was just saying that we can't buy new robes but you both can wear our robes from the time when we were your age."

Cepheus extended his hands towards Orion, "Come son, I'll show you my robes. If they don't fit we can just alter them, okay."

As both of them turned to go towards the attic, Margaret stopped them, "I hope you both are not mad at us for not buying new robes for you."

"Never," Orion and Astoria said together, grinning from ear to ear. "Actually we are overwhelmed to wear something that belongs to you. Believe me I'll look the most handsome wizard mum and Astoria, she'll look the most beautiful witch there," Orion said.

"We'll send a picture, if you want" Astoria said.

"That would be lovely. Okay, Astoria lets go. I have a few dresses kept in the cupboard of my bedroom."

Astoria nodded and followed her mother. Margaret took out a medium sized box from the lower most shelf of her wardrobe. It was a carefully carved with random figures, here and there. She opened the box and saw four beautiful dresses kept in it. A royal blue, a sea green, a raspberry red and a beige coloured. All four dresses had uniqueness in them but the royal blue one had already taken a place in her heart.

"The blue one," Astoria pointed out.

"Oh! That's my favourite too," Margaret smiled. "Try it on."

"Now!?"

"Yes! Go on now, hurry up."

Astoria entered the bathroom and pulled the dress on. It was a one shoulder long-sleeved dress; it fitted the upper part of her body perfectly and from the waist fell up to her toes like a cascade of beautiful blue waters. It was surprisingly comfortable and it seemed as if it was made especially for her. She came out and was welcomed by Margaret's gasp.

"Oh my! You look like an angel," Margaret said, stroking her cheeks.

"Umm.. mum I think this is too much… too girly. Can't I just wear jeans and a T-shirt…." Astoria said.

"Nonsense! You look so pretty, so elegant and there will be so many people from Durmstr…" Margaret's eyes widened in horror after realizing what she was going to say.

"Did you just say Durmstrang?" Astoria questioned, looking curiously at her mother.

"What! No.. I do not recall saying any of that. My god Astoria, I think you are hearing things. You want me to take you to St. Mungo's for a checkup." Said Margaret, looking innocently at her daughter's aghast expression. Before Astoria could say anything, Margaret pretended to hear Cepheus calling her and walked out of the room in a hurry.

However, the scenario at Malfoy Manor was completely different.

Draco knew all about the Triwizard tournament and even though he didn't show but he was very excited. His parents, preferably father, wanted him to act in a more sophisticated manner.

He knew very well that he had the best seats for the cup; he knew that he would have a great time and he knew that his father would buy him, a seven hundred galleon worth, new set of robes for the Yule ball. He knew that he was not just a fourteen year old boy, he was the heir of Lucius Malfoy, he would one day take his father's position, one day get married, have his own kid, but that wouldn't happen anytime soon. Right now, he wanted nothing more but to be able to have some freedom. Freedom in talking to any girl he fancies, freedom to choose his own Yule ball date and freedom to atleast chose his own wife, god dammit! But here he was sitting in the huge dining room of Malfoy Manor, listening to his father blabbering about how good the Parkinson girl seemed when he visited their house a few days ago or how charming Daphne Greengrass was and would probably bore beautiful children. He didn't want to hear any of that. He just wanted to be a normal fourteen year old boy.

"Draco," Narcissa placed a comforting hand on Draco's shoulder. He flinched and then realized where he was; he looked at her and gave her an assuring smile, "I was just thinking about school." She nodded and diverted her attention back to her lunch.

Lucius finished his food and looked towards Draco, a small smile dancing on his lips. "Draco I have some good news, Mr Parkinson has agreed."

Draco looked at his father and asked, "Agreed, to what?"

"He has agreed to let you take Ms Parkinson to the ball. I think it's a great idea. Think of it as a time to establish a bond among both of you. No pressure, although I want you to keep in mind that Malfoy men care a lot about blood and she is the perfect candidate. After school finishes you can both get married, have a child and just like me, you'll work in the Ministry of Magic. Probably you'll be elected as Minister of Magic… " Draco flinched at hearing what his father had said.

He didn't want Pansy as his wife, he didn't want a child at nineteen and he definitely didn't want to become a carbon copy of his father and be known as Lucius Malfoy's son all his life. He wanted to be known for his work and talents. He wanted to make his own destiny, he wanted to fall in love and then have a kid at atleast twenty-five. However, this was his father's house and he was his guinea pig, so having one's own opinion, in Malfoy manor, was unheard of.

"Wake up….. wake up!" Orion said, standing near Astoria's bed while holding a bottle of water. "Fine, I have now I'll have to wake you in a brutal way." He opened the bottle and poured all the water on her head.

Astoria screamed and immediately sat up in her bed, "What the hell is wrong with you?! Mom look…." Orion shook his head and said, "We are leaving in half an hour for the Quidditch world cup, remember?" Now she remembered, she quickly got up and took a bath. Breakfast was ready and after eating, Margaret and Cepheus charmed the house to protect it.

"Okay so we have to walk up the castle hill," Cepheus said pointing towards the distant hill which looked like a small dot from the place they all were standing. "When we reach there you all will see some common object there, which will be the portkey."

After walking for almost more than three hours, they had finally reached the hill. Astoria and Orion were flabbergasted by the amazing view. Astoria stretched her arms, as much she could, to feel the cold breeze flowing.

"Valko, how good to see you and to Mrs Bogdanova" Cepheus exclaimed as he shook hands with a man with dark brown hair and a long pointed nose and his wife, who had been already standing there.

"Cepheus, its so good to know that you're going too. And this must be Margaret," he said, bowing down and kissing her hand.

"Margaret this is Valko Bogdanova. He is from Bulgaria and works with me in the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes."Margaret smiled and nodded. Cepheus looked over his shoulder and saw his children talking in whispers to each other. He called them and said, "Orion, Astoria, this is Milen. He is in his seventh year at Durmstrang. You all should talk; they will be sitting next to us during the match."

"Hi!" Milen said awkwardly.

"Hey!" Orion and Astoria said awkwardly, too.

Cepheus clapped his hands enthusiastically and said, "Its almost time." He picked up a crushed water bottle from the ground and held it up. All of them quickly placed a finger on it and waited patiently for it to activate.

"Three.. two… one…" muttered Cepheus. It happened immediately. One second ago they all were standing on the ground and the next second they were spinning and on the third second they were lying on the ground, again.

"I don't feel so good," mumbled Astoria, lying on the ground.

Someone offered her their hand and she accepted it and when got up she looked at Milen who was smiling at her and to her surprise, she smiled back. _He, kind-of, has an infectious smile_ Astoria thought, shaking her head.

Cepheus talked to a man named Basil who told them that their campsite was three miles away, fourth field. They bid goodbye to the Bogdanova's and strode towards their tent. There were thousands of tents. Orion pointed to Astoria a huge tent, extravagant confection of striped silk like a miniature palace with several live peacocks tethered at the entrance. To Astoria's disappointed, she immediately knew whose tent was that, Malfoy's. She could recognize that platinum blonde hair even in her dreams.

Draco Malfoy was standing outside his tent with his wearing the finest robes and talking to his friends: Crabbe, Goyle, Zabini, Nott, Parkinson and Greengrass (Daphne, ofcourse). He loved the way all of them admired him. He felt powerful. Though, he seriously hated the fact that Daphne and Pansy were, literally, throwing themselves at him, while glaring at each other constantly. Draco had a feeling that something was missing and then he got the answer. As he looked at the path infront of him he spotted her, Astoria Greengrass, walking alongside her brother while looking at his place.

He swaggered towards her and stood infront of her. "Look who we have here, ickle Greeny and her brother Ony."

"What do you want meany?" she snapped. "Oh, that rhymed" Orion whispered in Astoria's ear.

"Oh, nothing just congratulating you. I heard you have seats in the second last row. Wow, how exciting! You'll have the best view," Draco said, sarcastically. Everyone behind him roared with laughter. Pansy gave Astoria a nasty smirk before she tried to cuddle with Draco. He continued, "Cornelius Fudge invited us as his guest. You see my father has just given a very generous contribution to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries."

"Probably because your father is the reason people landed there," she spat.

Malfoy gave her a nasty look, he opened his mouth to say something to her but Orion pulled her away from the group and yelled at Malfoy, "Stay away from my sister, you bloody brute!" After reaching their campsite, they all set up their tent.

The match was about to begin. Astoria was sitting between Milen and Orion. Milen, who was supporting Bulgaria(obviously), was wearing a scarlet jersey which shouted 'Go Bulgaria' every ten minutes and a Bulgarian scarf adorned with lions that really roared. Astoria and Orion were both wearing a dancing shamrock hat and had omnioculars in their hand.

"Ver going to 'in" said Milen, looking at Astoria.

She grinned and said, "We'll see."

Astoria was not very surprised by the effect the Veela's had on every man and boy present in the stadium. "No self control!" she whispered to her mother while looking at Orion's and Milen's reaction.

Draco was not at all happy with his seating arrangement. He had to share the box with poor Weasleys, proud Potter and mudblood Granger. But all those thoughts left his mind when the Veela's came. For the first time in his life he shared the same feeling as Potter and Weasley still he knew how to behave especially when both his parents are sitting next to him. According to him the Irish team mascots were brilliant.

The game was magnificent, the Irish had amazing tactics. Even though they were not able to catch the snitch, they had won. Krum was one of the greatest seekers ever. Draco wanted his autograph, very badly. He knew that they'd be at school this year so he had a lot of time to ask for it.

The time of happiness and glee had turned into something horrible. Cepheus had ordered Orion not to leave Astoria's hand under any circumstances, while he and Margaret went to help the Ministry. As they were running towards the forest, Astoria saw a group of people moving together with their wands pointed upwards levitating four people. Astoria was terrified.

As they kept waiting for their parents in the forest, Orion leaned down and whispered in her ears, "Death eaters!" as he looked up at the sky to see the dark mark.

* * *

Margaret took Astoria and Orion to board the Hogwarts express on September first. She told both of them to be safe and not to meddle in any type of havoc. She was grinning, "Have fun this year and tell me all about it, okay. I wish Cepheus and I were at Hogwarts, it would have been so romantic," she said, with a sudden gleam in her eyes. Astoria opened her mouth to ask but was interrupted by the whistle of the engine. They waved to Margaret before dragging their trunks in to find a compartment to sit.

Orion went and sat down in his friends' compartment while Astoria had found Ginny and they were having a long chat about the Quidditch world cup before Neville joined them. He was listening to them with his full concentration trying to imagine the match in his mind. Seeing this Astoria quickly opened her truck and thrusted the omnioculars in his lap. He looked at her with a quizzical expression until she told him that he could rewind and see some parts of the game.

The great hall looked splendid, as always. Golden plates and goblets gleamed by the light of hundreds of candles, floating over the tables in mid air. After the sorting, everyone filled their mouths with food as if they hadn't eaten in days. Astoria never had anyone to talk to while she was sitting at the Slytherin table, they all just kept glaring at her or bad-mouthing her. She never actually minded because she had hundred times better friends than any of them, Neville and Ginny. As she ate she noticed something peculiar, Daphne was not flirting with Malfoy like she usually did. She even gave Astoria a sweet smile. _How odd!_ Astoria thought.

The end of the feast categorized two major events: The first one was the introduction of the new defence against the dark arts teacher, Alastor Moody. The second was the Triwizard tournament was going to take place at Hogwarts this year. Though none of them were happy about the news that only students who have turned seventeen will be able to participate.

Neville and Astoria were having a great laugh over something that happened during her Arithmancy class when they heard few people shouting. They got up from their place to see what was going on. As expected, Malfoy, Ron and Harry were having a fight but this time Malfoy had crossed his limits. Insulting someone's mum or any other family member should be banned from the world, according to Astoria. The good thing was that before she even raised her wand towards Malfoy, Professor Moody turned him into a ferret. Yes, a ferret.

The ferret, or Malfoy, was squeaking in pain as Professor Moody bounced him up and down. Neville and Astoria stared at the current situation in front of them, awe-struck.

Though, everyday is not a good day because when Astoria met Neville on Thursday after his defence against the dark arts class, he was shaking while holding the book Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean. Dean Thomas had told her about him after her Transfiguration class. Neville had already told Astoria everything about his family in their second year and she had promised that she won't tell anyone. She knew that he didn't like to talk about it very much, so all she could do was hold him very tightly until he calms down and Neville meant a lot to her. She could see him suffer. Therefore, she held him tightly while sitting under a tree in front of the black lake till he looks up towards her and tells her that he is fine.

However, this simple act made Malfoy taunt her even more. But she didn't mind, she just smiled at him and walked towards her dormitory, annoying him even more than he already is.

On October 30, Hogwarts welcomed the students from Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and Durmstrang Institute. Everyone looked dumbstruck when they realized that Victor Krum was at Hogwarts but not Astoria because she suddenly she found herself looking at Milen Bogdanova, who she met at the the Quidditch world cup.

Everyone had settled in the great hall. Astoria sat on the Slytherin table and was happy because Ginny and Neville were sitting just behind her. She could easily turn and talk to them. No sooner did she turn to talk to then, than she saw Milen standing next to her.

"May I?" Milen said gesturing towards the empty seat next to her. She simply nodded. She felt someone tug her hair from behind. She turned to see Neville and Ginny looking at her with a smirk on their face. She shook her head and turned her attention to the food she was eating.

"I cee that youf forgotten me. Ve had a good time during the vorld cup," Milen said sadly, as he placed some fried chicken in Astoria's and his plate.

"Thank you and no, I haven't forgotten you," she said turning a little pink. Milen looked happier and continued to serve her food.

"Oh, I can do that." Astoria said but Milen shook his head and whispered in her ear, "I know but I just to give your pretty little hands a bit of rest." Astoria turned a light shade of red after that, she always preferred doing her own work and being independent but she was actually enjoying such pampering.

Throughout dinner, Milen and she had some great laughs. They had several common interests and she enjoyed talking to him.

However, Draco had not failed to notice this. Pansy was sitting beside him holding him hand as she ate her food. He had noticed Daphne being a bit distanced from all of them. She roamed around with them but it seemed that she had just lost all her interest. This gave Draco a nauseating feeling because now his father might start calling Pansy his daughter-in-law. As he looked across the table, he saw a Durmstrang boy flirting with Greengrass. He had had no confrontation with her since the Quidditch world cup and he liked it that way. But right now sitting and watching his enemy being flirted by some random bloke made his blood boil. He didn't know why but it just did.

Malfoy started, "Oi Greengrass, didn't see you there. I was…" but was interrupted by the boy, "I do not veam to be rude but I don't like to be disturbed when I am having a great convosation with someone I like," he said politely. Astoria smirked seeing that Malfoy had turned a bit pink on hearing the remark.

After this incident, Malfoy stopped even acknowledging that there existed a girl by the name Astoria Greengrass. This made Astoria happier. For the next month, Astoria seemed to have her best days at Hogwarts, with no Malfoy tormenting her and her classes going more brilliant than ever, she was overjoyed.

While everyone or most people were wearing the 'Potter stinks' batches, Astoria preferred to wear the S.P.E.W. batches made by Hermione, she believed in Harry. She even gave one to Milen who wore it with pride on his robes.

Professor Snape had told them about the upcoming Yule ball during breakfast and immediately ten minutes after that Milen had asked her to accompany him. They had become quite close to each other inspite of the fact that he was three years older. On the same day, after dinner when everyone was relaxing in the common room and Astoria was sitting by the fire on her favourite chair. Pansy came in with her group and stood in-front of Draco.

Draco looked up to see Pansy smiling down at him. He rolled his eyes and continued to read his book. Pansy groaned and said in her usual high pitch voice, "Look Draco I've lost a lot of weight, now I am even more beautiful." Instead of looking at Pansy, Draco looked towards Astoria who was laughing so hard that the whole common room was looking at her. That was the reason he had started avoiding her, her laugh, smile, hair, eyes everything was so intoxicating that he preferred staying away from her because if he didn't he might just kiss her.

"Shut up Greengrass! Draco and I were having a moment," Pansy said smugly.

"No we were not," mumbled Draco.

Astoria controlled her laugh and said, "You know, removing your make up doesn't really count as weight loss because you'll gain twice more when you attend the ball." Draco chuckled but stopped when Pansy gave him a mean look. Even Millicent Bulstrode was laughing.

"Milli just shut up. First look at yourself and then judge me." Millicent immediately stopped laughing and starting walking towards the girls dormitory.

Astoria actually felt bad for her. Even though she along with Pansy had tried to bully her but she never hated her, therefore she quickly stopped her just as she was about to walk up the stairs.

"Hey, I know you donot like me and neither do I like you but don't listen to Pansy. She is just jealous."

"Jealous of me, right. And why would that be? Are you trying to say that I'm ugly?"

"What! No! I am just saying that she is the one who is ugly not you. My mum says that if you're born a girl then you're born beautiful. However, this cannot be said when Pansy is concerned because she is definitely not a girl."

Millicent actually smiled after hearing this, "You think?"

"Yes! You just need to be a bit more confident and believe me I have seen Gregory looking at you during classes."

This actually gave Millicent a bit of confidence and while this conversation was talking place, Draco, instead of listening to Pansy babble about her dress, he was listening to Astoria. And only one thought came to his mind, Astoria Greengrass is a classic novel and he definitely wanted to read her.

The next day Astoria sneaked out of her dormitory very early and went to eat her breakfast. She had to meet Milen today after breakfast, she was quite excited. After a few minutes she felt someone occupy the place next to her. Not many people were in the great hall at that time and she thought that the person might be Milen. But she was wrong. She placed her hand on his but felt that it did not feel like Milen's hand. It was much softer. She looked towards her right to find Draco Malfoy sitting next to her, giving her his signature smirk.

Astoria quickly removed her hand and said, "Sorry I thought you were my date."

"I wouldn't mind being your date," Draco mumbled, "What you did yesterday for Millicent was very nice."

"Oh… than- thanks."

Draco nodded and continued eating his toast. "You are quite the evil manipulative bitch."

Astoria looked at him and smirked, "I am so touched, that's the biggest compliment anyone has ever given me.

Draco grinned at her and started laughing. Astoria did look a bit surprised but started laughing ,too.

"I heard you are going with Pansy to the ball," Astoria mumbled as she started eating a sausage.

"Yeah. Do you know I will betrothed to her or your sister?" Draco asked her.

"Yes, I know. I prefer that you marry Daphne instead of Pansy. It would be so fun, you'll be my brother-in-law."

"What! Greengrass you are barking mad!" Draco said.

"Its true, Daphne and your's blonde haired kid and I, their very cool aunt," Astoria grinned. Before Draco could say anything Astoria's owl landed on the table next to her, delivering a small parcel.

"How are you Pickle? Are you tired?" Astoria told her owl, while stroking her affectionately.

"Pickle? You named your owl pickle?" Draco questioned.

"Yeah, its such a cute name, pickle."

Draco took out a piece of parchment from his pocket and wrote '_You are bloody mental, Greengrass.'_

Astoria took it and read it. She laughed and wrote back '_You just misspelled awesome'_

Draco read it and smirked, but when he looked up he found the place next to him empty. Instead of throwing the parchment he kept it back in his pocket, he didn't know why but he thought that he might need such comic relief someday.

On the Christmas day around five O'clock Ginny came out of nowhere, to the place where Astoria and Neville were sitting and chatting, and dragged her all the way to the Gryffindor common room.

"Ginny I can't go in there. Its for…" Astoria started but Ginny interrupted her, "Astoria this is very important, okay and its fine no one will know."

She dragged Astoria up to the fourth year's dormitory. When they entered they saw Hermione sitting in front of the mirror looking at all the cosmetics kept in front of her.

Hermione looked relieved when she saw Astoria. "Good, you both are here. Now, HELP ME!"

Ginny and Astoria took almost two hours to completely make Hermione's hair sleek and not at all frizzy. When it was almost seven Ginny left the dormitory to get ready but Astoria stood there until Hermione was all dressed up.

"You look amazing Hermione. All eyes will be on you tonight and especially Krum's." They both laughed but then Hermione realized something. "Astoria you're not ready and we have only twenty minutes before the ball starts."

"Dammit!" Astoria yelled, "Okay, I should go but I'll see you later. Bye."

Astoria ran until she finally reached the Slytherin common room. Everyone was ready and were standing there complimenting each other. When Astoria entered she heard a number of people murmur her name but she just ran up to her dormitory without even acknowledging their comments.

Pansy who was looking overjoyed when she saw Astoria, still in her normal clothes leaned down to whisper in Draco's ear, "No one asked her. She'll be all alone tonight with the itty-bitty first years." Draco actually felt bad, if his father hadn't made Pansy his date, there was a fifty percent chance that he would have asked her. Okay ninety percent chance that he would have asked her. All the Slytherin exited the common room to go towards the great hall.

Astoria was definitely in trouble, her hair was not done, her dress was still wrapped in her trunk and she had zero experience when it came to applying makeup. So she quickly wore her robes, made a messy bun and applied a bit of makeup. "_I look okay, I guess" _she thought. She looked towards the watch and realized that she was ten minutes late. She ran outside and was stopped accidently when she bumped into someone.

"Vhere vere you? I was vorried," Milen said, as he stroked her cheek.

"Sorry, I was helping a friend." He nodded and gently kissed her hand. She immediately turned a bright shade of pink. "You look absolutely beautiful," Milen said grinning at her.

Astoria grinned back, "Thank you and you look handsome as always."

When they entered the great hall, Astoria was flabbergasted by the view. The great hall looked breathtaking. Both of them started walking towards one of the small tables but bumped into someone. She was so engrossed in her conversation with Milen that she just turned to apologize without even noticing who it was. Pansy Parkinson.

When Draco had looked at Hermione he was speechless. She looked amazing, he had to agree with that. Pansy was also looking good. He had expected that there would actually be a girl who would, literally, take his breath away. And there she was. Dressed in royal blue robes, Astoria. She had not even acknowledged his presence which annoyed him. When the dance began Pansy and Draco eagerly joined. Pansy did not look completely bad. Draco thought she looked kind-of cute. Though that was not the compliment he intended to give her, instead of that he might give beautiful or gorgeous or whatever else she found flattering.

Draco felt his blood boil when the Durmstrang boy dragged her to dance with him. Milen was too close to her for his liking. Still when he looked towards her, his heart beat became a little slow and he started fidgeting. All he wanted to do was to take Astoria away from him and snog her senselessly. Though, his thought process was broken when Pansy kissed him, while they were dancing. After she broke off the kiss and strode over to her group of giggling girls to tell them, in full detail, about the kiss.

Frankly speaking he thought that the kissing was okay… fine he thought it was good and if he had to do some fooling around with Pansy he wouldn't mind. Still she was not the person he actually wanted to kiss but if he had to keep Pansy as his wife in the future he wouldn't mind kissing her, at all.

He looked around but was not able to find either Astoria or her date.

Whatever Draco thought was his behalf but the truth was that Astoria had noticed him. He looked very handsome. She liked Milen but when Draco Malfoy continued to stare at her, as they both danced with their respective partners, she felt something happened inside her when he looked at her. She didn't know what it was but it only happened when _grey meets blue_.

Milen voiced snapped her out of that feeling and she remembered where she was. They exited the great hall to talk for a while. Milen and Astoria were taking a walk around the gardens, laughing over the poor attempts of Milen to tell her a good joke. Suddenly he stopped and looked at her. She gave him with a confused expression.

"'Storia, if you donot mind, I vould like to kiss you," Milen said, turning a bright shade of red.

"Oh, most people don't ask."

"But I am not most people 'Storia." He gently cupped her face and lifted it up, a bit, before leaning down and closing the gap between their lips. It was a perfect first kiss for Astoria.

After the ball was over, Milen escorted Astoria to the Slytherin common room and gently kissed both her cheeks before saying goodnight. She had forgotten about the strange feeling bubbling inside of her and was tinged red because of the kiss. When she entered the common room it was mostly empty except for one chair occupied by Malfoy.

"He is more than three years older than you," he said coldly.

"What!" Astoria muttered. He stood up from the chair he had occupied and stood right infront of her.

"You heard me. As far as I think, I didn't give you any permission to attend the ball with him," Draco said, looking into her eyes directly.

"Permission! And why would I ask _You_," she spat.

Draco grabbed her arm roughly, making Astoria wince in pain. But she was not going to give up this fight; she hit him hard on the shins and as he shouted in pain, she slapped him.

"You should know your limits, Malfoy," she said before heading towards her dormitory.

That was the last time they talked before the fifth year. She had heard the next day that Draco and Pansy were now officially in a relationship. She wasn't surprised. She knew about the brothel.

She didn't even comment on his behavior when he did not even pray for Cedric's departed soul or when she saw him glaring at Milen when he gave her a kiss before departing for his school.

She had had enough.

* * *

"Dad, why did you break mums vase?" Scorpius asked.

"I am going to find Milen and kill him. He stole my Astoria's first kiss," Draco said.

"Dad, you are acting a bit immature. We're going to tell mum," Emily said and Scorpius nodded in agreement.

"Fine," Draco took a deep breath and continued, "Sorry for that. _Reparo." _ He said pointing towards the broken vase.

"So our fifth year was scary. You-Know-Who had returned and your mum landed in St Mungo's"

"What!" Scorpius and Emily exclaimed.

"Not because she was mental," Draco started laughing. "Though there is a strong chance that that might be one of the reasons. But she got really sick, very sick," he said looking down towards the carpet. "And the relationship between your mum and I changed. Everything changed… everything."

* * *

**Review please. (^_^)**


	9. Chapter 9- Don't Stand So Close to Me

**Chapter 9- Don't Stand So Close to Me**

**Disclaimer: I have not ever owned Harry Potter, I do not own Harry Potter, and I won't ever own it either.**

* * *

It was the summer holidays before the sixth year. Astoria Greengrass lay on a bed at St Mungo's, staring up at the ceiling. How did this happen? When did things become so out of hand? Why was she affected by it? What had she ever done to them?

Helpless, exposed and vulnerable.

Looking back at the year, only a few things came to her mind: Order of Phoenix, Dumbledore's Army, common room, the kiss and Death Eaters.

Was she really that blind? How could she be so stupid? She had been a baby but not anymore, the trauma she faced took the life out of her. She preferred being dead. It wasn't worse than this. She wanted to feel something amazing, something like that kiss. With him. It was an accident, a mistake but a wonderful one. It wasn't out of lust and it definitely wasn't love, so what was it then?

She couldn't move, the potion took away her ability to walk properly, she had to learn it all again, but was she ready? She closed her eyes gently, waiting for death to conquer her but instead of that she had a dream, a long dream. Everything that had led to the current circumstances.

Nothing had been the same. Everything had changed. You-know-who was back. The war was near but the ministry had refused to acknowledge the fact that Voldemort was back. Everyone refused to believe Harry. The seriousness of this situation was not taken by another boy of Harry's age, Draco Malfoy. His father obviously knew what was happening and it had been a long time since Draco had actually heard his father laugh. He felt happy even though he knew that that laugh meant something was about to happen.

He still remembered the words Astoria told him the last time they interacted. He couldn't help but feel bad. It wasn't his fault. His mind wasn't working properly that night. He regretted everything he had said but the thing he did not understand was the reason behind such behaviour. He might just blame the amount of drinks he consumed that night or Pansy being super-duper clingy, snogging him all the way to the common room and then swiftly enter her dormitory in order to tell her friends about her recent encounter with him.

The news that Daphne Greengrass had refused to marry him didn't come as a surprise. She had been very distant. Draco didn't mind but his father had agreed with Pansy's father for their brothel. He felt a pang of disgust spread in his heart. Pansy Malfoy didn't even have a ring to it, sounded pathetic and the fact that he would actually have mistresses after their wedding made him feel sorry for Pansy. Even though he didn't like her very much, he didn't want her to have a crappy and unhappy life with him when they both could find someone they actually love.

Their fathers had even decided the date of their wedding, straight after both of them complete their seventh year, Three years later. Draco knew a lot could change in three years, even everything.

The thing that he didn't know was that it didn't take three years to change everything but only a matter of six months. But he wasn't a seer now, was he?

The entire summer Astoria and Orion had spent trolling from their home to the Grimmauld Place. Their parents had been a part of the original Order of Phoenix during the first wizarding war and it would have been impossible that they did not do everything in their hand to stop You-Know-Who.

The trip back to the Hogwarts express was quite interesting for Astoria. While finding Neville and Ginny, Astoria accidently walked in on Malfoy and Parkinson snogging or more like eating each other's faces.

"We are trying to have some privacy, Greengrass!" snapped Pansy.

Astoria rolled her eyes and immediately strode away from that compartment, not wanting to talk or even look at Malfoy. She was still disgusted by Malfoy's peculiar behaviour that night. The new Slytherin couple Draco and Pansy or Dansy or Panco, whatever. Even though they both were disgusting but still their couple name (Founder: Ginny and Astoria) was quite funny.

As she started to walk towards the other side of the train, she was pulled into a compartment by two people. Astoria was about to scream but was relieved when she saw Fred and George standing in-front of her.

"Don't be scared Astoria, we aren't going to hurt you or anything," George said.

"Actually, we might." Fred smirked. George simply nodded and made her sit between Fred and him. Astoria looked across from where she was sitting and saw Lee Jordon sitting and smiling.

"What are you all going to do to me?" she asked.

"-Nothing"

"-We just wanted"

"-you to try out some of the stuff we made"

"-for our joke shop." Fred and George finished, with a pleading expression in their eyes.

"Okay, but are you sure it won't cause any harm?" she questioned.

"Of-course" George said, "and don't worry we all have our wands, we'll just put a reverse the spell."

Fred gave her a peculiar looking comb and asked her to brush her hair with it. To her surprise her long hair changed into shoulder length blonde locks.

"My hair!" she wailed. All three rolled with laughter. Fred, with a wave of his wand, changed her hair back to normal.

"That's the Comb-a-Chameleon," George stated.

The different types of objects she tried made her laugh, angry and even cry. Starting with the Self-Propelling Custard Pie, which threw itself on her face. Fred had to wipe every bit of pie off her face so that she tries the next item. She tried on one of the Weasley moustaches from the Magical Moustache Miracle Stubble Grow which made her look like a thirty five year old woman.

"I look a bit like my dad," she said, looking at herself in the mirror.

After trying a twenty-thirty more different objects, they were interrupted by Hermione. She had seen Astoria puking in a bucket and quickly confiscated the articles and walked away muttering something about maturity.

As a thank you gift, Fred and George gave Astoria a box of Wakefield's off the Record Glow in the Dark Gum. She accepted the gift willingly because she felt like she was going to faint even though she hadn't tried the fainting fancies.

She tried to walk back into Orion's compartment, carefully, when a door in-front of her opened revealing Daphne.

"Astoria, can we talk?" Daphne asked.

Astoria rolled her eyes and stated, "Why would I want to talk to you?"

"I am your sister, remember?" Daphne said, coldly.

"Fine! Speak."

Daphne swallowed a lump in her throat and said, "They disowned me.." Astoria eyes widened when she heard Daphne's statement, "What!"

"My parents, they disowned me. They said I had no business coming near them and just like that, they kicked me out of the house. I have been living in the Leaky Cauldron for two weeks now," Daphne eyes filled with tears.

Astoria's mouth fell open; she didn't know how her perfect sister got disowned? "How did..." but Daphne interrupted by throwing her arms around Astoria's neck and enclosing her in an embrace.

"I am so.. so.. sorry, Tori!" Daphne said between her sobs and hugged Astoria. "I never hated you, father and mother... they.. they told me if I ever associate with uncle Cepheus' kids, they'll disown me. Bu... but I am not scared anymore. I.. I want my sister. Pl...Please Tori, believe me... I am not joking." Daphne looked towards Astoria, her face red due to all the crying. "Believe me."

Astoria looked at her with a blank expression on her face, "Why are you telling me this, now?"

"Because you are my sister and I really love you."

Astoria was not able to hide her emotions anymore, her eyes were slowly filling with tears. She had claimed that she had hated Daphne with all her heart but standing here face to face with her she realized that Daphne was broken. Someone had managed to crack open her tough exterior. Astoria had promised herself that she would never give Daphne the satisfaction of forgetting everything she had done to Orion and her but breaking the stupid promise seemed to be the best thing.

Letting herself go, breaking all her walls she hugged Daphne and she hugged back. She had a sister.

They sat in the particular compartment that was occupied only by Daphne and talked. A long one. They actually were quite similar yet there was a big difference, Daphne was scared to have even a polite conversation with anyone outside Slytherin and Astoria really did not give a crap about what people thought of her, she did what she thought was the best for her.

Daphne told Astoria the true reason behind increasing distance with Draco Malfoy  
"You are seeing who!" Astoria exclaimed. "Tori, keep your voice down. And yes, its true I am seeing Adrian Pucey. Honestly, its no big of a deal. We have been writing to each other for the past year and I really like him," Daphne said, blushing.

Many people had given had given her the cold eye when they had passed through their compartment, talking to Daphne. She didn't care.

* * *

"Owls!" Neville and Astoria sighed sadly.

"Gran wants me to score Outstanding in most subjects, that's impossible!" Neville reasoned.

"Oh please Neville, I know you can do it. You are the most intelligent boy I have ever met," Astoria told him.

"Now you are just taunting me," Neville sighed.

"Believe me, Neville. It's true."

After the first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson, everyone was extremely frustrated and angry, especially Astoria. "'Good morning, Professor Umbridge', 'Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge'" she mimicked.

Neville and Ginny laughed. "The bitch, in pink, is going to a big pain in the arse," she whispered to them. Both of them nodded, after the first lesson they could imagine how the rest of the year will go.

As excepted nothing went accordingly, Umbridge had started to indulge in their other classes. She had been giving Harry a very hard time. Ron had been exceedingly happy because he was the new Gryffindor keeper. Fred and George were still testing their products on younger students in order to see whether they had the same effect on others as it had on them.

When Hermione told them about the secret lessons, they all agreed immediately. It was the only hope of light that they could see. Harry was brilliant, he could teach them a lot. Something might actually be useful if they come face-to-face with a death eater. All three of them knew Voldemort was getting stronger by the minute and they had to take some action because the ministry was not willing to do anything.

So after that when they were allowed to go to Hogsmeade village, they had to collect at the Hogs Head bar which was quite small and dingy. Astoria joined Neville and Ginny but she noticed that there was a third person standing beside them.

"Astoria this is Luna," Ginny smiled.

Luna extended her hand towards her and Astoria took it willingly. "You are an odd Slytherin, you know," Luna stated in her dreamy voice.

"I guess," Astoria said.

As all four of them walked towards Hogs Head bar, she had a decent conversation with Luna and she actually liked her. She was different, in a good way. Her father was the editor of the Quibbler which was Astoria's mum favourite thing to read. Even she was amazed by the things written in it.

When everyone had reached the Hogs Head, Fred ordered Butterbeer for everyone.

"We can have Firewhiskey," Astoria exclaimed, jumping up and down with the excite bubbling inside her at the thought of drinking Firewhiskey.

Ron, who was sitting next to her, leaned down and whispered in her ear, "I share the same sentiments as you but I think Hermione will kill us if we even uttered the word Firewhiskey." Both of them laughed and because of which they earned a dirty glare from Hermione. They grinned at each other and then diverted their attention to the current situation.

After the long discussion Harry had finally agreed with the whole teaching idea. Though, the bloke, Zacharias Smith, was a big pain in the arse and Astoria didn't like him after his not-so shrewd remark which he said after signing his name on the parchment.

"What does she doing her? A bloody Slytherin! Here to spy on us are you?" Smith exclaimed.

Astoria clenched her fists in order to control her anger. "What! Going to tell on us, are you? To Umbridge?"

Astoria Greengrass was a very calm girl before she had entered Hogwarts but now being calm was the quality she just didn't have. She turned to pounce at him and smother him to death when Neville and Ginny grabbed her by the waist, preventing her to even move a little. So instead of having a fist fight with him, she settled on seven words that meant more than her violence she was about to perform.

"Don't judge the house, judge the heart." Everyone turned to look at her admirably.

Luna was the first to speak, "You are very odd. I like you." This actually calmed Astoria and returned the smile Luna gave her.

The secret lessons had begun. Each member of Dumbledore's Army was becoming stronger by every lesson. Even though they all had to sneak from their respective common rooms for it, none of them ever failed to attend it. Harry was a great teacher.

Umbridge had set members of the inquisitorial squad to patrol the corridors in order to avoid any meeting or social gathering taking place. But as most (almost all) belonged to Slytherin, it became Astoria's job to spy on them and try to find out any of their tactics or plans to bust them all.

Astoria was proud of Neville, the most. She had always believed in him, he only lacked a bit of confidence but now he was becoming the best.

* * *

Draco had lost it; he hadn't talked to Astoria since that night in the common room when she had slapped him. Though he definitely didn't have any feelings towards her, except contempt, still he used to feel uneasy. Astoria had seen Pansy and him snogging in their compartment on the Hogwarts express after which he was not able to kiss her again for a week. His father had already told him about Umbridge but Draco knew she was just part of a big lie, a lie spreading like wild fire. He had seen You-Know-Who with his own eyes when he had exited his room because he was not able to sleep but the thing that had taken away his sleep for a fortnight was that the Dark Lord had said something regarding him but he wasn't able to hear what it was.

When he had boarded the Hogwarts express he wanted to be alone for sometime but was interrupted by Pansy who threw her arms around his neck and proceeded to kiss him. Though, the only thing that made him sick was that she was thinking of baby names. _Their _baby names, who does that at the mere age of fifteen and the names were extremely silly.

The lessons were good, as always, but in his relationship with Pansy he felt as if the devil had kept them together, trapped in one cage. Still there were two good things about this year, the inquisitorial squad and him being a prefect. Though, being a prefect with Pansy had its consequences, whenever she felt that no one was watching she used to drag Draco into an empty class room and snog him. He had gotten bored of snogging Pansy because there was nothing in between them, the only reason he had even bothered to tolerate her was because of the slight possibility of her being the mother of his child.

As he patrolled the corridors and caught sight of Astoria with Neville walking together, having a conversation so deep that they didn't even acknowledge him, he wished that he was in Neville's place. But when he caught Colin Creevey, out of his common room after curfew, holding a picture in his hand, all his anger subsided. He found himself looking at a moving picture of Longbottom, Weaslette and Greengrass, having a hearty laugh. Draco found himself looking at Astoria, looking so carefree and happy, a lovely smile plastered on her face, her eyes closed because she was laughing so hard. She looked so perfect, as if everything in the world was okay or will be okay only if everyone just take a sneak-peak of her smile. He tore the picture into three pieces, thrusting two pieces in Colin's hand and told him to return to his common room immediately. When he was nowhere in sight, Draco looked at the picture again. He felt a sudden rush of joy sweep over him. He quickly it in his pocket and turned to go back to his common room.

The only thing was that he didn't know someone could be so horrible to actually wipe away that perfect smile from her face.

The match between Gryffindor and Slytherin turned into a disaster. Just before the match, Astoria sneaked in two dozen eggs from the kitchens and gave Neville and Ginny some.

"What are you doing?" Ginny asked.

"Believe me Gin, this is important." Astoria said.

Ginny's question was answered during the match when the Slytherin started singing, 'Weasley is our king'. On Astoria's instruction, all three of them started throwing eggs at the choir singing the song. Even then they didn't stop. So Astoria tackled Pansy who was leading the choir and it ended up in a brutal fist fight, leaving both of them with a broken nose, busted lip and swelling around the eyes.

* * *

It was on the day Astoria and Orion had returned home but Daphne with them. Astoria had written to her parents and asked them if Daphne could stay. To her surprise they accepted without hesitation yet Daphne was a bit scared to enter her uncle's house for the first time in her life. But everything went so smoothly, she never felt so much at home, ever.

In the evening, while Cepheus was still at work, Margaret had offered to take all three of them to Diagon Alley. Orion and Daphne had willingly accepted it but Astoria didn't feel like going. She preferred sitting on the sofa, in her blanket and drinking hot chocolate. Margaret kissed Astoria on the head before bidding her a goodbye.

Astoria sighed happily and wrapped the blanket around herself in a more secure way. Astoria had her potions book in her hand, which she studied while enjoying her hot chocolate.

It was almost an hour later when she heard a few footsteps outside the house. She hesitantly got up and looked out from her window but saw no one. The sun had set a long time ago and the possibility of actually seeing someone was very less. She came and sat down back on sofa but before she could pick her book again, the whole house was suddenly covered in darkness. Not even a small medium of light was near. Astoria quickly took her wand out and muttered, "_Lumos."_

The keeping her wand at arm length, she slowly moved towards the window. Nobody was still out there but as she turned away she heard the sound of someone apparating. She felt happy because she thought her mum or dad were home but soon she realised that she was so wrong when she heard almost ten people apparating. She heard their footsteps. Lots of them. She quickly ran and hid behind a cabinet next to the sofa.

"_Nox_," she said.

Before she could do anything else she heard someone's voice, most probably a female. "_Bombarda!" _ the door opened with a blast thereby causing the room to fill in dust. Astoria slowly slid down the wall, so that no one could see her. She now knew exactly who had entered her house, Death eaters, and atleast five or six in number.

"Do you think they might be here?" said a man in a panicky voice.

"Sssh... I think someone's here," said a woman, with wild black hair and a very high pitched voice.

"Show yourself, now!" the woman said sternly. Astoria flinched after hearing her voice but didn't dare to move from her current location.

"Who would live in this dump? Cepheus has really low standards if you ask me and worst of all is that he is associating with a filthy mudblood, pathetic! Your brother and daughter are a disgrace Corvus..."

All thoughts vanished from Astoria's mind when she heard that her uncle belonged to one of those people but before she could actually put some thought into it, she felt herself being pulled by an unknown force. When she finally looked up she saw herself surrounded by seven death eaters, looking at her as if she was some kind of disgusting material.

"Oh look its the by-product of Cepheus' sham of a marriage," the woman with wild black hair said.

A boiling hate had erupted in Astoria's chest, leaving no place for fear. For the first time in her life, she wanted to point her wand at all of them and kill them, right here, right now.

"This ickle girl, here, is scared," the woman said, in a fake accent. All the others laughed at her impersonation.

Astoria blood was boiling with anger, she lifted her wand and said, "_Stupefy."_

The woman fell backwards with a large force, hitting and breaking the glass of the cupboard behind her.

All the other death eaters took their wands out but before they could mutter any type of curse, Astoria yelled, "_Incarcerous,"_ tying two death eaters back to back from each other.

She ducked from a curse pointed towards her and shrieked, "_Expelliarmus!" _disarming the man infront of her. Taking the opportunity she had, while the other three unharmed death eaters struggled to free their fellows, she ran upstairs to her bedroom.

On reaching her bedroom she heard footsteps behind her, "Kill her!" they yelled. Astoria panicked she didn't know what she'd do. Suddenly she looked at window, pointing her wand at it, she yelled, "_Bombarda!" _The window burst open with small pieces of glasses flying all around, cutting Astoria at a number of places.

She picked up a piece of glass and made a huge incision with it on her leg. She winced in pain as the blooded oozed out of her leg. She heard the door open and there stood three death eaters. Without thinking she jumped out of the window.

With a thud she landed on the rough ground, blood soaked all of the lower part of her jeans. She stayed there for few seconds but it didn't help her at all, a pool of blood was being formed where her leg was. She pulled herself up and ran down the hill. She could here three death eaters behind her, running as fast as they could. As she kept running, a trail of blood was forming in the same direction in which she ran while dodging the curses they sent.

She looked back and muttered hexes towards them as well but the running and pain all over her body made it difficult for her to concentrate. She looked back once again but this time she saw a deep red coloured light hitting her on the back. She fell on the ground but the ground was not dry but wet. As far as she remembered it hadn't snowed, she looked down and saw herself lying in a pool of blood, her own blood.

"What did you do? How could you use that curse?" a man shrieked.

Astoria lifted her head a little and understood what they were talking about. Her body was body was rapidly losing blood, without any blockage. She felt herself losing consciousness. The last thing she saw was a whip of platinum blonde hair and a frightened voice, "They'll know it was us, Lucius..."

Before she could stretch her hand and get her wand, her whole body tensed and darkness enclosed her eyes.

Astoria felt immense pain over her entire body. Her eyes were still closed but she knew that she wasn't lying on the ground anymore, she was on something compy such as a bed. She could hear the voice of someone crying, was it her mum?

Astoria gently opened her eyes and saw the room filled with people: her mum, dad, Orion, Daphne, Neville and his grandmother, Professor Lupin, Alastor Moody and Tonks. Everyone was consoling her mum while she was crying her eyes out, no one was even looking at her except Neville. When he realized she was awake he enclosed her into a hug.

"Thank god! You're alive and awake." Neville exclaimed while stroking her hair.

She sighed and rested her head on his shoulders. Even though she was in a lot of pain, she ignored it. Margaret was now crying even harder on Cepheus' shoulders.

Neville backed away but still held her hand in his, as if he did not do so something bad would happen to her.

The healer came into her room and beamed happily when he saw Astoria awake. "Morning Astoria, I'm Healer Graham Brooks." He extended his hand towards her. "If you all don't mind I would like to tell her about her condition. The auror's can stay."

"Can I stay, please?" Margaret asked but Cepheus didn't allow it. Instead he volunteered to stay by Astoria's side because he was much calmer than his wife.

Everyone exited except Cepheus, Tonks, Professor Lupin and Alastor Moody. Cepheus occupied a place next to her bed and held her hand.

"Astoria, do you remember what happened that night?" Professor Lupin asked.

"In bits. Not completely." Astoria stated.

"If you remember, you cut the skin of your leg. But the cut was very deep, with what object did you make such an incision?" Healer Brooks asked.

"A piece of glass." Astoria said.

"Why?" Healer Brooks asked.

"Because I thought it might help you locate my body, if something bad happens." Astoria stated.

"Well, it indeed helped. Your father, Lupin and I were able to follow the blood trail and locate you. But the sight was a nasty one, you covered in blood with..." Moody said.

"I think you should stop," stated Healer Brooks. He turned and looked towards Astoria and said, "You were hit by a curse, a rare one. It was last used in the first wizarding war and only people belonging to You-Know-Who's inner circle know what it is."

"So, am I going to die because of it?" asked Astoria, with a hint of fear in her voice.

"We don't know, yet. There is only one potioneer, in the world, who knows how to brew its reversing potion, Andres Antalino. He currently lives in Omata, New Zealand. We had sent him an owl and just received his reply last night. He said that he'll arrive here a day before New Year. That's the good news but there is a bad news, actually two. Firstly, it would take him almost six months to brew it and secondly, it might have a side effect but the side effect depends on the person. So, are you up for it?"

"I am," Astoria stated confidently, "But will you tell me what the curse did?"

Healer Brooks looked at Cepheus and sighed, "The curse effects your body in three steps. At first the curse breaks all the bones in your body, very slowly, which causes a lot of pain. Next all your blood oozes out of your body like water from a tap and at last you enter a state of coma."

Astoria's mouth fell open, "Did you say that to make me feel better? If yes, then that did not help at all."

"The first two steps happen in a matter of ten seconds but the last step takes five hours. That is the reason you are alive, they found you after an hour."

"Okay..."

"We are currently giving you a potion which will stop any effect of the curse on you but will not fully remove it. After a few months, your body will start resisting the potion and then you would have to come back here and stay till you have taken the potion and fully recovered. When you'll return to Hogwarts, Madame Pomfrey will give you a potion which Severus and she have brewed together. You'll drink it before your respective meals of the day, are we clear?"

"Yes," Astoria nodded.

After Healer Brooks went away, Astoria told all four people in her room about what had happened.

Astoria stayed at St Mungo's for quite some time. In that time she was visited by the entire Weasley family and Harry and Hermione. She even went to see how Mr Weasley was. She was frequently visited by Neville but one day when he came to visit, it looked as he'll cry.

Astoria quickly shifted and made play for Neville to sit next to her on her bed. "Neville, what happened?"

He looked at her, his eyes filled with tears, and took out an empty Droobles Blowing Gum wrapper. "She gave me this, my mother... she gave me this again and I..." Neville couldn't say anything more and started crying on Astoria's shoulder.

"Oh... Neville, please don't cry. Hey... Hey look at me, you are the strongest boy I've ever met Neville and I love you more than anything. You are my best friend, my brother and probably if we didn't find anyone, my husband."

Neville laughed and looked at her, "I don't want to be your husband."

"Why not?" Astoria exclaimed in a childish voice.

"But seriously Tor... you... you'll never leave me right and go mad?" Neville asked in the most innocent of ways.

"I'll try my best Neville," Astoria said and Neville nodded.

Astoria shifted and covered herself and Neville in a blanket, "Come on, lie down."

Neville rested his head on the pillow of her bed. Astoria rested her head on his shoulders and they talked. A long one, filled with their laughter.

It was soon time to go back to Hogwarts but Astoria was not allowed to travel by the Hogwarts express, Healer Brooks had to floo Astoria to the hospital wing.

Astoria was packing her things up when Cepheus entered her room.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

Astoria smiled and said, "Good but a bit tired."

Cepheus nodded, "Your body is fighting.." he sat down on the bed and patted the space next to him for Astoria to sit.

"Is there something wrong?"

Cepheus shook his head, his eyes filled with tears. He looked at her and smiled saidly, "I didn't fight for you... I didn't fight the death eaters. I would've come home early but... I kept telling myself that I didn't know any better. I should have fought for you, just like you fought for yourself." He sighed and wiped his tears, "You were helpless... You are a baby, my baby. A beautiful, smart, funny little girl and I didn't protect you. I'm so sorry.. so so sorry."

Astoria was shocked by her father's breakdown but she continued to look at him. New tears were falling on his cheek and he made no efforts to wipe them, "I can't undo my mistake and I will never forgive myself for it but as a human being I can try to do better. I can do better." Astoria wiped her father's tears and rested her head on his shoulders.

On reaching Hogwarts Astoria was greeted by Professor Dumbledore, all the teachers, Madame Pomfrey, Ginny and Neville. But soon, Madame Pomfrey shooed everyone away. She gave Astoria her potion and then sends her out to attend the feast. Professor Snape escorted her to the great hall, where she was welcomed by loud whispering about her. She ignored it and took her seat at the Slytherin table, next to Daphne.

Draco looked at Astoria as she sat next to Daphne but the girl still was arrogant as hell, she didn't even look at him. _Was she still mad? _Draco thought. He shook his head and removed all kinds of thoughts about her from his mind. Pansy was sitting next to him, her fingers entwined with his. She kept looking at him, from the corner of her eyes, as she ate. Draco was angry but it was no because of Pansy, it was because of his father. He had been eavesdropping his father's and mother's talks after he had heard Astoria's name from his mouth.

When he finally had the courage to ask his father, he only told him that some death eater had attacked her with a rare curse and it might take away her life. Even when his father said that, he didn't have any remorse for the girl but instead he actually looked happy.

A week later after the match between Slytherin and Ravenclaw(Slytherin won) and Astoria, Neville and Ginny were returning back to the castle, a first year boy came and gave Astoria a letter. She opened it and read it aloud.

_Ms A Greengrass  
I would like to discuss some important things with you Ms Greengrass, therefore kindly report to my office today at five O'clock.  
Professor Dumbledore_

_P.S.- The password is candyfloss._

"Do you know what this might be about?" asked Neville

Astoria shook her head, "No idea."

Astoria reached the Gargoyle and muttered the password. On reaching Professor Dumbledore's office, she found him standing at the door smiling at her.

"Ah.. Miss Greengrass, I had just exited my office to wait for you. Come in and please, take a seat."

Astoria took a seat and Professor Dumbledore did the same. He smiled at her and then took out something from the pockets of his robes, "Would you like to play a game of exploding snap, Ms Greengrass? Or perhaps a game with gobstones?" Astoria looked at him, not believing at what he had just said.

He laughed and said, "When I was your age, I really enjoyed these games and a fair warning, I am pretty good at them."

So, Astoria and Professor Dumbledore sat there for an hour and played. Though Professor Dumbledore beat her almost ten times in each, she actually enjoyed herself.

"Miss Greengrass, how are you feeling?" he asked.

"I don't know sir... I" Astoria mumbled.

"You are afraid because you know something, is that right?" Professor Dumbledore asked.

Astoria nodded, "Yes!"

"Is it because you know that among the people who attacked you, was someone you know?" Professor Dumbledore questioned.

She took a deep breath and looked at him, "Yes sir, my uncle. I have always respected him but I don't know what I did to deserve this."

"Does Daphne know?"

"No sir, I can't tell her." She looked at him with her sad eyes, indicating pain.

"Miss Greengrass, I would like to know exactly how you feel since that night?"

Astoria looked down towards her lap and then back up at Professor Dumbledore, with a sigh she began, "I am in pain, all the time. I don't have much energy, I'm tired. So tired. Sometimes I just wish I could die because it will be so much better than suffering from this pain. They made me feel as I am some kind of disgusting filth, like I don't deserve to live." A few tears escaped from her eyes and fell down on her robes.

"Have you told any of your friends?" Professor Dumbledore asked in a soft voice.

She shook her head, "No. Everyone looks at me with those pity eyes, as if I am some kind of vulnerable victim but I am not. I fought and lost, I am no victim."

"Yes, you have fought valiantly. But Miss Greengrass there is something you aren't telling me."

"I want to kill him, sir. Lucius Malfoy, he was the one who hit me with the curse. He is the reason behind everything. He is the main culprit here," Astoria said confidently.

"Ah, revenge. An emotion experienced by the commonest man or woman. Astoria there is nothing wrong in having such feeling but acting upon it, thats something you should avoid. It won't lessen the pain you are going through instead it will increase it. Promise me Astoria, you'll not do anything stupid. You will not lose hope. You will fight."

Astoria stared at Professor Dumbledore, admiration filled in her eyes for her headmaster, "I promise, sir."

Professor Dumbledore looked at the watch next to him and exclaimed, "Oh, look at the time. Go now Astoria or you'll be late."

"Late? Late for what, sir?" Astoria asked.

"As far as I know, the Slytherin common room is having a big celebration and I think you should go and join them. I heard they are bringing crates of butterbeer and firewhiskey from the kitchen," Professor Dumbledore said calmly.

"But sir, aren't you going to stop them?" she asked.

The headmaster shook his head and said, "No. You see Miss Greengrass, I was a fifteen year old myself, once, and I think that you should go and enjoy yourself. Be happy, miss Greengrass. There is a great possibility that something good might happen at the end of the party, now go."

Astoria ran and reached the common room. She muttered the password and had to close her ears immediately. She was pulled inside and the entrance closed. She looked up and saw Daphne smiling at her. She was holding a head band in her hand which had green and silver coloured strings and in between 'ASTORIA' was written in bold letters. She tied it around her forehead and pointed to the one tied around her forehead which read 'DAPHNE'.

"Daphne, I think I should go to bed," Astoria shouted.

Daphne shook her head and dragged her towards the refreshment table. She pulled out a bottle which said 'Firewhiskey' and thrust it in her hand.

"Drink, you'll feel better. You have been very sad, lately, so I think that this will make you have fun for some time." Before Astoria could say anything Blaise came and started dancing with Daphne. He looked at Astoria and gave her a big hug. Both, Daphne and Blaise, resumed dancing while Astoria stood there awkwardly. On the other side of the common room she could see Malfoy dancing with Pansy. _Eww _she thought.

She looked at the bottle in her hand and then looked all around her. She took a deep breath and in one swing drank the entire bottle. Daphne and Blaise gawked at her. Astoria took another bottle and in one swing drank it, too. She was drunk and after a long time, she actually felt content.

She went back to where Blaise and Daphne were dancing (Theo had joined them, too) and started dancing, wildly. She moved her entire body with the rhythm of the music. She moved her hips while swinging her hair back and forth. Though everyone was too drunk to even notice how the other one was dancing, there was someone who had noticed Astoria.

Draco was forcefully dancing with Pansy. She was a hideous dancer. Even though the pureblood had private lessons, when they were young, on dancing, Pansy danced like a wannabe. He suddenly noticed someone dancing, so slowly so beautifully, Astoria. He mentally groaned to even have such thoughts about her. She was like a forbidden fruit for him. He couldn't touch her; he shouldn't touch her.

He moved away from where Pansy was dancing and strode towards the other direction, where _she _was.

He looked at her and felt his breathe caught into his throat. She was moving like she was part of the music. Draco now actually noticed her. She had grown taller than last year, she had a very nice feminine shape (he mentally slapped himself for even thinking that), she wasn't the prettiest girl in school but he couldn't help but think of her as extremely beautiful and she didn't know the 'ABC' of dancing but still she looked like a goddess when she does dance. Her long black hair was tumbling down her back, her eyes closed as she swayed with the music... _I think I am going mad _Draco thought.

"Draco!" suddenly all his thoughts went haywire when he saw Astoria's eyes open and a huge grin on her face. "How -hic- have you -hic- been?" she said, still swinging with the music.

"Green... Astoria you're drunk," he said.

"Oh, shut up Draco." She lost her balance but Draco caught her. He immediately realized something; both his hands were firmly holding her waist as she looked at him with a confused expression.

Astoria shrugged her shoulders and started dancing right there, while his handing were still holding her waist. He swallowed hard and quickly removed them but Astoria continued to dance.

And all of a sudden he realized something, he actually liked her.

His body was filling with desire, he wanted to touch her, feel her and kiss her but he couldn't. He wasn't allowed. His father had forbidden it. He wasn't even allowed to look at any girl except Pansy. But he was Draco Malfoy, Slytherin seeker, everyone worshipped him. Yet if he did anything stupid, his father might do something worse.

_Fuck it_ he thought.

He grabbed Astoria's shoulders, to steady her, and kissed her. The contact was extremely powerful, the movement of his lips synchronized with hers. He slowly moved in a particular direction until Astoria's back was against the wall. His hands tangled in her dark locks as he continued kissing her. It was the most amazing thing he had experienced and suddenly it stopped. Both his hands were resting on the wall, on either of her side.

Their breathing was shallow and their faces all red. He brought one hand on her right cheek and starts stroking it. They continued to look at each other for a few seconds until Astoria pushed him away from her. She looked at him with a surprised expression, she removed the head band she was wearing, threw it on the ground and ran upwards to her dormitory.

Draco followed her but as he was about to enter the girls dormitory, four snake shaped bars emerged from the walls, preventing him from going any further. He sighed and went back to the place where he had been dancing, picked up Astoria's head band and quickly kept it in his pocket.

After that when he finally noticed the people around him, he realized that Pansy was crying, Daphne glared at him before entering her dormitory and Theo, Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle had a very confused expression on their faces.

The party was amazing but all students from year five to seven had to suffer its consequences. Professor Snape was disappointed in his students and gave them all detention to scrub the floor of the Great hall, until he could see his face in it.

Astoria was still shocked by that nights event. Draco Malfoy had kissed her. Why? She didn't know but the thing that made her feel worse was that she actually like it. Though, she only remembers it in bits and pieces but still its effect was empowering her entire body. When she told Neville about it, he literally wanted to break his face.

* * *

Summer was here. Astoria's body had finally started to resist the potion, little by little. She was now feeling weak but she could let it affect her studies, so she decided to ignore it.

Career advice was very important. Professor Snape had called her in his office and he started asking her question about the choice she made regarding her career.

"A hit witch!" Snape said coldly.

"Yes."

"Well, you have the marks and the way you tackled the death eater was quite impressive. Alright."

Draco's career advice session was kind of a shock for professor Snape because he didn't expect him to choice this profession.

"Are you sure Mr Malfoy? Do you think your father will approve?" Snape asked.

"I am absolutely sure, its my passion and I know father wants me to follow his footsteps and become a ministry employ but this is what I want to do," Draco stated.

"Okay then. Healer, it is."

Then, it happened. The day the O. got over and everyone was relaxing in the common room. Astoria felt something rise in her chest. An uneasy feeling enclosed her entire body. She quickly ran towards the sofa where Daphne was sitting but the immense pain caused her to collapse right there on the common room floor. The only thing she remembered before fainting was the noise of people shouting, feeling her clothes getting soaked in blood and after a few seconds the feeling of someone lifting her off the floor and running.

When she woke up she saw Neville and Ginny standing next to her bed. She sat up quickly but the pain in her body made her lie down, again.

"What happened?" she asked Neville standing next to her bed.

Madame Pomfrey was the one to speak, "The temporary potion, we were giving you, has stopped working. I talked to Mr Andres and he said the potion will still take two weeks to brew completely. So, till then you'll stay here." With that, Madame Pomfrey returned to her office.

"I... what..." Astoria tried to ask but Ginny interrupted her, " You have been here for a few days now. Malfoy actually did something good, for the first time in his life."

Astoria looked at her with a confused expression, "Oh, he brought you her. Carried you in his arms and..." but before Ginny could say anything, Neville stopped her and showed her the DA coin. There was something going on. Even after many protests from Astoria, Neville and Ginny forbid her from leaving the hospital wing and went to look at what was wrong.

A few minutes an unexpected guest entered the hospital, Draco Malfoy. His cronies weren't with him. He came in and stood next to Astoria's bed, studying her as if she was a frog waiting to be bisected in the lab.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, his voice filled with concern. He sat on her bed and looked at her.

"Fine, but a bit in pain" she said.

He quickly got up, opened the cabinet in the room and took out an old looking bottle out of it. He took a cup and pour its content into it. He placed the bottle back to its original position and brought the cup to Astoria.

"What is this?" she asked.

"Just... just drink it, " Malfoy said.

She took the cup and downed it entirely in one go. Immediately, she felt the pain go away. She looked at him and then back towards the cup.

"Brilliant," he smirked.

"I..." before he could say anything he heard Crabbe calling him out. Without saying one word, he ran out of the room.

Everything fell into place the next day when Neville told her everything that happened in the Department of Mysteries.

On the last day of term, Neville bid her goodbye and then she was transported back to St Mungo's. The potion was almost ready.

Healer Brooks brought it in a cup. He ordered her to drink it immediately. She did the same...

* * *

Astoria opened her eyes. She was still in her bed, the side effect had taken away a big part of her life, her legs. She had to learn to walk again. She had been lying motionless for almost five days, without eating or drinking anything. But she knew she had to stop. She had to fight. She had to conquer her weakness. She had to fulfil her dream. She had to become a hit witch.

She took a deep breath and tried to lift herself off the mattress. With her arms, she put both her legs on the ground. At that moment the nurse came in and was shocked at what she saw. She started shouting for her family and healer, who after a few second immediately entered the room. They were shocked themselves.

Astoria took the instrument, next to her, to support herself while walking. She walked a few steps but then lost her balance and fell. But Cepheus caught her in his arms. She rested her head on her father's shoulders and started to cry.

"I am useless... I.." Astoria started yet Cepheus did not let her finish because he interrupted her, "You did great, I am so proud sweetheart. You are going to be fine."

"That's nice," she mumbled. Margaret was weeping with one arms around Orion's and one arms around Daphne's shoulder.

The nightmare had finally ended.

* * *

Scorpius and Emily didn't say anything; they just observed their father who was shaking involuntarily.

Scorpius gathered up the courage and said, "Dad, are you okay?"

Draco laughed and then looked at her children, "There is this funny thing. If I go back in time and tell fifteen year Draco that one day he'll marry Astoria, he'd probably beat me up. If I tell a sixteen year old Draco, he'll be glad that sixth year was over and he didn't die. If I tell seventeen year old Draco, he would be happy because he and Astoria survived the war. But if I tell my twenty-one year old self that I will be marrying the great Astoria Greengrass, he would smirk and would eagerly look forward to it."

"Dad, what are you trying to say?" Emily asked.

"I'm telling you the difference between a boy and a man. I am your mother's man and even though I have never told her this, I try everyday to protect her and you both from any harm." Draco looked at his watch and sighed, "I think your mum is buying the entire Diagon alley."

* * *

**(A/N: I know the chapter is very long but I think my reader have guessed that this is a long story. I hope all of you are enjoying the story. Please comment and review my story. I love reviews so please please, pretty please with a choclolate frog on top, review.)**

**Song at party- Kings of Leon- MarySong at the end- Snow Patrol- New York  
**


	10. Chapter 10- Owner of a Lonely Heart

**Chapter 10- Owner of a Lonely Heart**

**Disclaimer: I have not ever owned Harry Potter, I do not own Harry Potter, and I won't ever own it either.**

* * *

It had been almost six months since Astoria had gone home. The last time she was there she had almost died but now, a new day had begun. Birds chirping on trees, winds blowing and the sun shining brightly in the sky. Everything was quite normal, for now.

It as mid August and Astoria was finally discharged from the hospital. She had worked very hard to walk again and was now finally able to do so. Even then Cepheus and Orion had volunteered to hold her hand when she was walking up the hill towards their house. Margaret was standing by the door, her eyes filled with tears of happiness. She was extremely happy that her buddle of joy was now alright, out of danger. A day before returning home, Neville and his gran had come to visit her. She was overjoyed by seeing them.

Margaret, along with some help from Daphne, had prepared a variety of delicious cuisines for Astoria. She actually took Astoria's spoon out of her hand and was spoon feeding her. Though Astoria groaned at her mother's tactics, she couldn't help but love this feeling.

When her O.W.L. results came, she was extremely scared. She gave her father the envelope to open. She kept her eyes shut until he had read through the letter and had finally handed her, the letter, back. With a deep breath, she looked at the parchment in her hands.

Astronomy: E  
Care of Magical Creatures: E  
Charms: O  
Defence Against the Dark Arts: O  
Arithmancy: O  
Herbology: E  
History of Magic: A  
Potions: O  
Transfiguration: O

Astoria was overjoyed with her marks. She jumped around the whole house for almost an hour, until she fell on the kitchen floor.

* * *

Draco sat on the edge of his bed, gazing at his right arm. It was burning. When he had returned home from Hogwarts, this was the gift he got for his sixteenth birthday. His aunt Bellatrix had been so proud of him and took every opportunity she got to tell him that he was a lucky boy.

He had written to his father, currently in Azkaban, about it and was filled with glee when he read his father's reply. Lucius had written that for the first time in his life he was proud of his son. Draco felt his heart fill with pride. He was fully content. But as he sat on his bed, staring at the mark the only thought that filled his mind was '_What would she think?' _

He got up from his bed and entered his bathroom. He strode towards the sink, opened the tap and washed his face. He raised his head and looked at himself in the mirror, he was a death eater and his father was proud of him, yet it wasn't the happiest feeling in the world. The way his father had described it, he should have been on top of the world but he wasn't instead he was scared.

He went back to his room and opened his school trunk. He started going through it. He grabbed stuff by stuff and threw it out of the trunk until he finally found the box, his box which had an 'M' etched on it. He opened it, it only had a few things inside it and they didn't belong to him but to her. He reached in and pulled out the small photo of her which he had confiscated from Colin.

When he looked at the picture, the strangest thing happened to him. He felt happy, he felt like the whole world had vanished and the only people left were him and her. He kept looking at her eyes and her smile. They were perfect. He placed the photograph back into the box, which he placed in a secluded corner of his wardrobe.

He returned back to his position on the bed but his mind was somewhere else. He was thinking about the kiss, it was the happiest memory he had that year even if it had ended badly.

The task he was assigned to do was extremely difficult. He had no idea how he would do it. His aunt was teaching him Occlumency and she had, almost a dozen times, gone through the memory of him kissing Astoria. Luckily, he had been drunk at that time and the memory wasn't very clear. Therefore, she thought the girl he had been snogging was Pansy, not Astoria.

At such a crucial time in his life the one person that annoyed him the most was Pansy. She had been writing to him, every other day, telling him that she had forgiven him and mistakes could happen. And the one letter that made his blood boil literally had the aroma of her perfume sprayed all over it.

_To Draco darling,  
I know you think that I am mad but I am not. I heard that you have finally become a death eater. I am so proud of you baby, I am the luckiest girl in the entire world. My future husband is part of such an elite group, yay! Anyways, don't worry, I will take care of idiot Ass-toria in such a way that she wouldn't even dare to breathe the air around you. You are only mine.  
I have decided the date we can get married after our seventh year, 26 July. What do you say? I can't wait to belong to you completely Draco, just think about the time we are going to spend with each other. My mum and I are going wedding gown shopping in a few days, I know it's a bit early but I will select a dress and make myself fit for it in two years. Don't worry it's going to be sexy as hell and believe me you when you see me wearing it, you would only want it on your bedroom floor.  
My dad told me that we have to start making a baby soon after we get married. We are going to be great parents and believe it or not, I have already decided the name of our son, Bentrimus Draco Malfoy. Like it? Reply soon, I love you. XOXO  
-Your lovely (future) wife, Pansy_

Draco looked at the letter once again and then tore it into several small pieces. _Pansy and my bride, yeah right. I would never let something like that happen. My bride will be beautiful, independent, not at all like Pansy... I think she'll be like Astoria or she'll be Astoria, she will look so gor... What! Draco Malfoy, you have once again gone mad. She would never marry a person like me, a death eater. She would probably marry a man who will take care of her and not snog her without her will. He would make her feel like she is the most beautiful woman in the world and would make love to her every night... and here I am stuck with lovestruck Pansy. Great, just great! Thats every man's dream, right. And then there's Astoria, she might have her prefect little prince charming, or whatever nonsense women expected a man to be, get married to him and in the end have his kids _he thought.

He lay on his bed with his arms tucked under his head. He closed his eyes, trying to think of a plan in order to complete his task but instead of that he slept; it was something he wasn't able to do properly in a long time.

* * *

Astoria was sitting in her room, on her bed, with Daphne, eating ice-cream. They were discussing about the subjects they had opted for and about the incident that had happened that day.

"Oh my god! What has happened to this world! Please God, help me!" Margaret shouted, holding her head with her hands.

Cepheus came running, from his room into the kitchen. Trying to calm his breath, he asked, "What happened?!"

"There are no eggs, Cepheus. No eggs!" Margaret cried, wrapping her hands around Cepheus neck and sobbing on his chest.

He leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Sweetheart, the eggs are on the counter."

Margaret looked up from his chest and saw a carton of eggs. She grinned from ear to ear and immediately started making something with them.

"Are you okay, love?" Cepheus asked, stroking her cheeks.

"Oh, of course."

"Love, I have to discuss something with you," he said.

Recently, Cepheus had become restless, the fact that one day his daughter might get physical with anyone was eating him alive and especially at her age she should know everything about it. So, he went to Margaret to ask her to discuss this with her but she refused and asked him to do that, instead.

Cepheus took a deep breath and went to sit next to Astoria on the sofa. He turned to look at her and she did the same, "Hello Astoria, how are you? Good I suppose. Good, very good. What are you reading?"

Astoria looked at him curiously and said, "My new Defence Against the Dark Arts book."

"Oh, good. Sweetheart, I want to talk to you about something very important."

"Alright," Astoria said, closing her book and keeping it on the table.

"Now, I know your head is filled with only studies and your career but one day you realize there are other things in the world. Umm... like boys, for example."

"Okay..."

"But what you have to understand is that... umm... boys are not like girls," Cepheus said, trying very hard to choose correct words.

"They're not!" Astoria said, a hint of sarcasm in her voice and a small smile creeping up her face.

"No, they are not. Boys are bad. They only have one thing on their mind," he stated firmly.

"Whats that?" she asked innocently.

Cepheus swallowed hard, how could he tell his sweet and innocent little girl this? He sighed and continued, "Quidditch!"

"Quidditch?!" she exclaimed.

"Yes!"

"I like quidditch."

"I know and thats good. But in the future, one day, you might decide that you do love qui... quidditch."

"Ummm.. probably, but dad its..." she stated.

He clasped his hands together, "You are right, its stupid. But one day you might meet somebody, lets say a boy and he is really into qui... quidditch and he might try and get you to watch. At first you might think that there is no harm in watching but then he shows you his bat and his knee pads and his helmet and the next thing you know... the covers are off... you're letting him play on your field and then he is letting you ride his broom stick... you are enjoying it and then you both collapse and again the cycle goes on.." Cepheus blabbered everything in one go. He looked up and saw Astoria's mouth open.

"Dad, why are you telling me about sex?!" she shouted.

"Because you are old enough to know..." but before he could complete his sentence, Astoria interrupted him, "I know everything; mum told me long time ago."

"What!" He looked towards Margaret who was smirking at him. She gave him a flying kiss and ran towards their bedroom. Cepheus followed her muttering something and smirking at the same time.

Astoria and Daphne laughed, again, at her parents tactics.

"Tori, sometimes I think that my parents' disowning me was the best thing that ever happened to me. When I told Adrian, he freaked out. The war is coming soon and he didn't want me to be staying at Leaky Cauldron," Daphne said.

"Oh, don't worry you have us. Anyways, how is it going with you and Adrian Pucey," Astoria asked.

Daphne turned scarlet red and wasn't even able the control the smile creeping up on her face, "Oh, you know... we are quite lovely..."

"Lovely... really! Come on tell me, please, for your sister who just got well," Astoria pleaded, with a pout of her face.

"Fine! God, Astoria. Okay... um.. well he wants me to move in with him after I finish with my seventh year at Hogwarts because by then he will have a stable job and he can buy a place for us and we can begin our life together," Daphne grinned.

"Wow! Oh my god Daphne, thats brilliant," Astoria exclaimed, giving Daphne a tight hug.

Daphne blushed even more, "Um.. Adrian and I.. well we had quite a heated moment last week, we just went out to have some dinner and then he offered to have some drinks at his house, his parents were away..." Daphne giggled nervously and started tying a braid, ".. We were just drinking some butterbeer and then we started kissing passionately..."

Astoria's mouth dropped open, "Daphne, are you telling me that you and Adrian did the dance with no pants?"

Daphne picked up the pillow next to her and hit Astoria on the head, "No! We stopped; we have decided it would be best for us if we wait till I have finished Hogwarts."

"And you are pissed?" Astoria questioned, innocently while rubbing her head.

"Shut up and yes, a little but its for the best... and by the way, he is amazing."

"Of-course," Astoria said smirking. Daphne scowled and began hitting her with the pillow again.

* * *

"Draco." Draco looked up from his desk, a book about various magical objects in his hand. He placed a bookmark on the page that said 'Vanishing Cabinets' and kept it aside.

"Is there any problem, mother?" he questioned.

She looked towards him, her were bloodshot red and had bags under them; she looked awfully tired and scared. He wished he could do something to bring back his mothers beautiful smile but as long as You-Know-Who even existed, it was impossible.

"The dark lord wants to speak to you before you leave for school tomorrow," she stated.

Draco closed his eyes in-order to steady his breathing and calm his mind. His aunt had been teaching him occlumency and this was the first time he was going to block his mind from the dark lord himself. He looked down at the piece of parchment he had been holding.

Astronomy: O  
Care of Magical Creatures: A  
Charms: O  
Defence Against the Dark Arts: O  
Divination: A  
Herbology: E  
History of Magic: A  
Potions: O  
Transfiguration: O

He folded it and kept it in his drawer. He followed his mother towards the dining hall. They entered the room, Narcissa stopped at the entrance. Draco saw the dark lord sitting on a chair, twirling his wand in one hand and with the other stroking Nagini's head.

"Ah.. Draco, come. Sit." He stated.

Draco swallowed hard and slowly moved to occupy the seat next to him.

"I hope you remember the task I have assigned you," the dark lord said.

"Yes, I remember." He felt a ticklish feeling on the back of his neck.

"Good because if you didn't.." he grabbed Draco's left hand and pushed his robes up to reveal the dark mark, "... it wouldn't be fair to this mark and it doesn't deserve the hand of a coward. As far as I know cowardice is in the Malfoy blood, your grandfather and your father had that trait yet I still have a bit of a faith in you. Therefore, all I am saying is DON'T DISSAPPOINT ME or..." he got up from his seat and strode up where Narcissa was standing. He picked up his wand and started twirling it around her neck.

Narcissa flinched at his touch but tried to control her emotions.

The dark lord continued "... the people you love will not live to see your face. Your father, mother and the girl, for whom you have developed something more than just liking."

Draco looked up and started to sweat even more. _Who was he referring to? Pansy? Or... No! _He thought.

"Ah.. Astoria Greengrass, half-blood, daughter of a traitor and mudblood. What a great choice! Looking into your thoughts, I saw that she was rather attractive but I couldn't help but think how she would inside a coffin. Anyways, I think you got the idea," he removed his wand from Narcissa's neck. With a flick of his hand, his snake came towards him and wrapped itself around his leg, he dissapperated.

Narcissa looked at Draco, both of them sweating with fear. She was shaking. Draco immediately went and wrapped his arms around his mother. She leaned her head on his chest and started sobbing.

Draco didn't know what to do, so he kept stroking her hair to calm her down.

* * *

"Oh my baby, I love you so much. Take care of yourself, I'll miss you," Margaret said, kissing Astoria repeatedly on the forehead and cheeks.

"Me too, mum!" she said and quickly moved towards her father. He smiled at her and kissed her forehead before whispering something in her ear, "Stay away from the Malfoy boy, I have heard rumours about him getting involved with death eaters. Its better you keep a distance, Astoria. Be safe." She looked at her father and nodded.

Soon, they had reached Hogwarts. Draco exited the carriage, Pansy hanging on his arm. He pushed her away and strode towards the castle. He went towards a secluded corner and took a handkerchief out of his pocket to wipe the blood splattered over his shoes. He looked at the handkerchief and felt disgusted by himself. He hated Potter but what he had done today was worse than anything he had ever done to him. His friends were extremely happy when the saw the dark mark etched on his arm and he actually felt his ego get a sudden boost but now, when he looked at it again he was angry with himself.

He shook his head and went towards the Great hall. He was immediately greeted, by his friends, with a roar of cheering and claps. Pansy swung her arms around his neck and snogged him in the great hall. But she stopped when she saw Professor Snape coming towards them, glaring.

Pansy pulled him towards the place, where she was sitting and snuggled closer to him. Her fingers entwined with his. He rolled his eyes at her gesture, in doing so his eyes fell on Daphne and Astoria who were sitting at the other end of the table. He felt his heart beat faster when Astoria turned her head and looked at him. She rolled her eyes and then turned away.

Draco shook his head, trying to focus on the only task important. He pushed Pansy off himself and proceeded to eat the food on his plate.

After dinner, while going to the common room, Draco didn't even look at anyone. He kept to himself. But his temper reached its peak when Pansy again tried to fling herself onto him again.

He immediately pushed her away, "What the hell is wrong with you?!" he shouted.

"I..." she stammered.

"Shut up Pansy. Just stay away, alright. I don't want to see that bloody face of yours, again and I am never going to marry you. Never! So, just stop sending me the bloody letters. Just stop!" The whole common room went silent. They were just looking at the onetime Slytherin's most popular couple. Pansy burst into tears, her hands covering her face. Before she could flee away from the common room, Blaise wrapped his arms around her and she started sobbing on his chest.

"What is wrong with you, mate?" Blaise asked.

Draco looked at him and then Pansy. He looked around the common room and saw everyone looking at him, curiously. He quickly strode towards his dormitory and slammed the door shut. He sat on his four poster bed after kicking it twice. He put his head in his hands, trying to comprehend what had happened. He got up, went in the bathroom and quickly changed into his night clothes. He tucked himself in bed before anyone enters the dorm, trying to forget everything that happened.

Daphne and Astoria were sitting on Daphne's bed in the corner of their dorm. On the other end, Millicent and Tracy were trying to calm Pansy down.

"What do you think has happened between them?" Daphne whispered in Astoria's ear.

"I don't know. There is something seriously wrong with Malfoy this year. Even dad said so."

"Do you think that he is getting involved with death eaters?"

"Maybe."

The next morning when Astoria, Neville and Ginny were having breakfast, she told them about Draco's peculiar behaviour. Though both of them didn't think anything was wrong about it but Astoria knew differently. She knew Malfoy wouldn't act like this without any big reason. Therefore, the only conclusion she had: Malfoy was getting involved with death eaters. But she wasn't going to let go of the topic so fast.

After the first day's classes, when everyone was going towards the great hall for lunch, she had a famous Malfoy-Greengrass encounter. The only problem now was that wherever the Slytherin's saw them together, they started making kissing noises and Draco Malfoy, even though he looked as if he had something big on his mind, didn't miss to irritate her to his full capacity.

"Oh, look everyone its Greengrass. Astoria Greengrass, Slytherin's forbidden fruit." Everyone laughed. Neville, who was standing beside Astoria, flinched on hearing his words. Malfoy continued, "Fellows, if you remember I had the taste of the lips of the forbidden fruit and as a matter of fact the effect was so intoxicating that you all can still smell her scent on me." Every Slytherin standing laughed while Neville was holding Astoria's hand extremely hard to prevent her from hitting or hexing Malfoy.

Draco swaggered towards Astoria and stood extremely close to her. "Smell me Greeny, its the smell of pride, dominance, power and well... you! Come on, smell me."

"I don't want to smell you," Astoria stated sternly, looking at him straight in the eye.

"Oh, yes you do." Draco said, brushing his cheeks on hers.

"You've got to be kidding me," she yelled, breaking her hand free from Neville's grasp. She grabbed the collar of his robes, roughly, and pushed him against the wall. She began, "Okay, I have more important things to deal with than you. I have roommate problems and boy problems and family problems and studies to do. You want to act like a little frat boy bitch, thats fine." Malfoy didn't look at all interested at what she was saying and started yawing right at her face but even then she continued, "You want to brag about how you forcefully kissed me, thats fine too. But just stay out of my face and for the record," she grabbed Malfoy's chin and forced him to look at him, "YOU SMELL LIKE CRAP!" She stepped from him and walked where Neville was standing.

Right at that moment Professor Snape was came to look at the commotion just outside the great hall.

Malfoy took the opportunity upon seeing Snape's raised eye brows and said, "She attacked me."

At that moment Astoria felt a sudden pang of burning fire of anger bubble inside her and immediately turned to pounce at Malfoy and punch him in the face but Neville stopped her by holding her tightly around the waist with both his hands.

Professor Snape, upon seeing the situation said, "Mr Malfoy I would like you to come to my office immediately. While I request the others to quickly enter the great hall before severe actions have to be taken. Ms Greengrass you may go, too." Snape strode away, Malfoy following him but before he could disappear round the corner, he turned smirking at her and started mimicking a crying baby.

"Git!" Astoria shouted but he was too far away to hear.

* * *

Nothing was going according to Draco's plan. Everything was a disaster. Everything. The cursed necklace cursed the wrong person, Rosamerta was an idiot and the vanishing cabinet was too difficult to fix. He had stopped eating and sleeping. His mind was always occupied by the vanishing cabinet and the Dark Lord's threat. His life was over. He entered the boy's lavatory on the third floor. He entered a cubicle and closed it too vigorously. He leaned against the wall and put his face in his hands.

"Who's there?" someone outside asked, a female. "I am asking again, who's there? I am not going to ask again." She walked right through the cubicle door and eyed Draco.

"Moaning Myrtle! What do you want?" he spat.

"I could ask you the same," she said.

He looked at her and felt his eyes fill with tears, "I... I,"

"Oh, don't cry. Tell me, whats wrong?" she asked with a concerned look on her face.

He looked at her and after taking a deep breath, told her everything about his insecurities and about everything, except his task.

Astoria, on the other hand, was completely sure that something was wrong and in order to clear her doubt she decided to do something.

Professor Slughorns Christmas party was on and she knew it was the perfect time to check. She sat in a dark isolated corner of the common room, waiting for Draco Malfoy to leave. After about fifteen minutes, she saw him do it. She waited at the same corner to check for sign of any movement around the staircase to the boys dormitory. Not noticing any such thing, she sneaked up the stairs and stopped at the sixth years dormitory. She pressed her ears to the door, to hear any voices from the room. There were none.

She entered and quickly started looked around each bed to find Draco's. She found it next to the window. She took the trunk, under his bed, out and used her wand to open it. She found nothing as such strange looking inside the trunk. It was only filled with clothes, books, a bunch of broken stuff and candies. She felt disappointed fell her, she closed the trunk and pushed it back to its place. She got up and began to move towards the door but her eyes landed on the crumbled piece of parchment placed hastily under the pillow.

She sat on the bed and straightened the paper with her wand. She muttered _'Lumos'_ and started reading it.

_Draco,  
Stop whining about how difficult the task is and get yourself together. If I found out that you are sending your mother tear-stained letters again, I will kill you before the dark lord even thinks of doing such a thing.  
Your task is even simpler than tying shoe laces. Don't disappoint Draco. Don't become another disgrace to the Malfoy name, your father being the first.  
Your Aunt, Bellatrix._

Astoria was stunned after reading the letter. She was now sure that Draco had started working for the death eaters but the only thing eating her was why he was crying. She got up to leave but before she could do so, she heard three-four pair of feet coming up the stairs. She panicked and got under Malfoy's bed, next to his trunk.

At that same moment, three boys entered the room. Draco was frustrated by Snape. He had no business snooping around his task. He came down and sat on his bed. Astoria felt the bed sink and knew Draco was on it.

"You okay, mate?" Blaise asked.

"Yeah," Draco said rubbing his hands against his face.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Theodore asked.

"I am not a woman who likes to share her problems with her friends. I don't talk girl," Malfoy spat.

"Fine mate. Anyways, what is up with you and your Greeny?" Blaise and Theodore snickered.

"Nothing!" Draco stated.

"Oh, come on. Just admit that you find her attractive," Theodore said.

"Wha... what! No, not at all. She is not at all a...fine maybe a little but whatever," Draco said in a bored tone but still Astoria found herself going red.

"Ah.. thats a definite yes," Blaise said, smirking.

"No, its not. Its not like I have some kind of wet dreams about her," Draco said, taking off his shoes.

"Wet dreams, you say. Oh, I would do so many things to her and..." Blaise started.

"Hey! Shut up, we have better things to do than this," Draco said sternly, as he moved to enter the bathroom. Once the door was shut Astoria heard Theodore whispering to Blaise, "I wouldn't mind having her in my bed, all night long. She has a violent strike and I could easily shut her up and show her why men are more powerful than woman."

Blaise smirked, "Both of us can but as long at Draco even exists, I don't think thats possible. He's quite possessive about her. After the Yule ball, he literally trashed the entire dorm because she had kissed some durmstrang bloke."

Astoria had slept all night long under Draco Malfoy's bed. It was almost five a.m. when she went inside her dorm to sleep.

Even after going back home, Astoria couldn't get Draco off her mind. She had shown the letter to Neville but he dismissed her by saying that she should stop snooping around. Therefore she had decided to give it to Harry and he really appreciated that. She told him about her conclusion and even he agreed to them. Now she was absolutely sure that Draco Malfoy was a death eater.

The Christmas holidays had begun. Margaret had taken Astoria, with her, to Diagon alley to buy some household material. The entire area was almost empty; it looked as if there was some kind of curfew. Astoria asked Margaret's permission to go to Borgin and Burke's, she was reluctant at first but then she agreed on the condition that she will accompany her, too.

They entered Borgin and Burke's and immediately Astoria started looking for her book. She was looking for the book _'Accomplishments and Works of famous Hit Wizards and Witches' _but they didn't have the book, at the moment. Her heart broke, as she began walking towards her mother she noticed a book _'Fascinating Muggle Studies', _it was filled with the various discoveries by muggles like Newton, Bohr, Mendeleev, Einstein etcetera. She showed Margaret the book and she willing bought it for her.

She read the book in two days time, she found it extremely fascinating. Chapters like Vectors, Elasticity, Force, Newton's laws of motion, Atomic Structure and many other interesting topics intrigued her. She decided to bring the book with her to Hogwarts, not for showing it to her classmates but as a gift for someone. For someone's birthday.

* * *

Death was the easiest thing, right now. Better than facing the dark lord himself. He tried to remember what had happened. One minute he had been sobbing in-front of moaning myrtle and the next minute he was lying on the floor, lying on a pool of blood. He opened his eyes and saw the ceiling. He realized he was in the hospital wing. He wasn't wearing any shirt and his chest was covered in bandages.

He looked around the room and saw someone sitting on a chair, next to his bed. A girl. Her head was hidden by the big book she was reading. He knew that, in all probability, the girl was Pansy. He groaned. He looked towards his nightstand and saw a glass of water kept on it. He moved his hand to reach for the glass but accidently dropped it on the floor.

"Oh, you're awake," the girl, whose voice sounded quite similar, said.

He looked up and found himself looking at the intoxicating blue eyes.

"Greengrass, what are you doing here?" he said.

Astoria closed her book and kept it on his bed stand. She sighed and looked at him, "Look around, Malfoy. Do you see anyone of your friends around?... No! So I didn't want you to wake up.. alone."

Draco looked at her, not believing what she had just said. "Get out! Get the hell out of here."

Astoria looked at him with disgust, her eyes filling with tears. She picked her book up and stormed out of the hospital wing.

Draco felt disgusted with himself. He was really touched that Astoria was by his bed side but he couldn't let the dark lord know this. He would kill her. He knew that he had hurt her but he did that for her safety. He hoped she understood him and his intentions one day.

It was the fifth of June. Astoria was sitting in the common room looking at Malfoy. He looked as if he didn't belong to the world. He looked dead, more like an inferi walking around the school. He had bags under his eyes; he looked as if he had been crying for hours.

At that same moment, Malfoy got up from his arm-chair and walked out of the common room. Astoria slammed the book she was reading shut and slipped the package kept next to her inside her robes. She got up and followed the path Malfoy was taking. He turned to a secluded corridor and stood with his forehead against the wall. His hand was covering his eyes and he was shaking.

Astoria slowly walked towards him, trying very hard not to make any type of noise.

"Don't! Stay away, Greengrass... just," Malfoy yelled.

But Astoria didn't stop, she walked towards him, confidently and put her hand of his right shoulder.

Draco flinched at her touch. He looked towards her and before he even understood what was happening, she enclosed him into a hug. He tried to resist it, the feeling of someone's warmth around him was amazing. But he knew he shouldn't feel something like this, if the dark lord got any news about this they both will be death the next second.

He tried to push her away but she kept holding him, very tightly. "I don't want this," he snapped.

"Stop resisting, Draco." Even then Draco didn't stop, he kept trying to push her away but Astoria wouldn't let go of him.

"No! No! Okay, I... I am applying pressure..." Astoria whispered slowly in his ear.

"I can't!" he explained.

"... deep pressure here..." she continued.

"Please, I can't do this now!" he shouted, shaking more vigorously than ever.

"... to relax.. to relax your sympathetic nervous system. It'll decrease your metabolic rate. You will feel panicked at first and you'll try to resist it but eventually you will feel your pulse rate slow. Its okay, your breath will come easier. Okay." She slowly released her grip and gently, cupped his face. He had tear stains on his cheeks. She removed her hands and moved away from him.

His breath was deep, his face flushed and his eyes red. He looked directly into her eyes and she looked at his. She swallowed hard and said, "I... I app.. applied intense pressure on your body which resulted in decrease in pulse rate, metabolic rate and muscle tone. It calms them down and a.."

Not removing his eyes from hers, he interrupted her, "... a hugging mechanism is used to relax the sympathetic nervous system. It slows the heart... I know."

Astoria averted her gaze and nodded. He, also, looked away from her. He wanted to run away but he couldn't. It was, as if, his feet had its own mind because they wouldn't let him leave.

"I got something for you," she mumbled. With all the courage she could muster, she took the book out of her robes and held it, with both hands, close to her chest. "_'Fascinating Muggle Studies'_, I bought it during the Christmas holidays. I enjoyed reading it, alot and I think you'll like it... But if you don't want..."

Draco turned around to look towards her. He moved towards her and took the books out of her hands. He looked at the cover and saw _'Property of Astoria Greengrass'_ written at the bottom right corner of the book.

Astoria grinned, "Happy Birthday, Malfoy."

"Thank you.. thank you, really," he said, touched by her sentiments.

"This book is amazing. Do you know what the periodic table is?" she asked, jumping up and down with excitement.

"A table with food on it," he said.

"No!" she said, playfully hitting him on the shoulder. "When you finally read the book, the tell me."

"Alright." He nodded.

"You okay?" she asked, eyeing him curiously.

He looked at her and smiled, for the first time since he returned for his seventh year. He took a deep breath and said, "No! I am not."

"You want to talk about it?"

He shook his head. He grabbed her hands, softly and pulled her towards the window. He made her stand in front of him and pointed towards the night sky. "You see those stars, right there. You know which constellation that is?"

"Scorpius!" she whispered.

He nodded, "Scorpius." He looked at her and she did the same. Both, showered by the moon light, lost into each other, as if they were each other's shadows.

Not able to move or avert his gaze, he said, "I am one of them." He didn't know why or how it came out of his mouth but it did. He expected her to run away from him but she didn't.

"Tell me, everything," she said. Her hand still in his, she tugged his hand and asked him to sit with her, right there on the floor, with their backs resting against the wall.

With every passing minute, Astoria listened to every single detail. She was in shock. She had never, in her dreams, had thought that Malfoy would have to do such a task. A task that was brutal enough to suck the life out of a person.

"I can't do it, I can't." She cupped his face with her hands, so gently as if she was holding a new born baby.

"You don't have to. I'll protect you. We will protect you. Professor Dumbledore will protect you and your mum."

"He'll kill me, he will." Draco said, shaking with fear.

"He won't... he won't, I won't let him near you. You are safe with me," she whispered.

After almost fifteen minutes later, Draco got up from his place, on the floor, and extended his hands for Astoria to take. He pulled her up and then dragged her away from that corridor. "Where are we going?" Astoria asked.

"I want to show you something," he said.

They stopped in front of a familiar looking wall. Draco starting pacing, back and forth, in front of it. After a few minutes, a door appeared and he pulled Astoria inside with him and shut the door.

"What are we doing inside the room of requirement?" she questioned.

"Just come with me," he exclaimed.

She followed him and stopped in front of a large cabinet. He was looking at the cabinet with a constant rage in his eyes.

"I have to fix it. But I can't. I don't want to. But they'll kill me if I don't... I.." he mumbled to himself.

She moved and stood infront of him, blocking his view of the cabinet. "Come, lets look around the room," she exclaimed.

"I don't want to, I have to fix..." he said, without looking away from the cabinet. But she interrupted, "I didn't ask for your permission... come on, now!"

She held her hand out for him to hold. He just looked at it for a while but finally extended his hand to hold hers. They start moving around the room, looking at different objects kept in it. After moving around for almost more than twenty minutes, they stopped in a corner where a number of boxes were kept.

Astoria moved and opened the box kept at the top of the pile. "Blank parchments!" she said.

Draco smiled at her enthusiasm and moved towards her. He removed the box and placed it on the ground, so she could open the box below it.

"Thank you." As she continued to open the box she asked, "Do you hate me?" She looked at him, a curious glint in her eyes.

Draco looked at her, surprised by her question, "No. I don't. I lo.. like you," he mentally slapped himself for the slip of tongue, still he continued, "I like you, a lot. I do not know why but whenever I talk to you, not mock you, I feel so happy... I love your smile.. I do. I love how you made me feel today, like anything's possible, or like life is worth it... You are like sunshine, everything's better when you're there. You... you plant fire in my heart and bring peace to my mind.. and I like you. I do."

Astoria looked at him, her eyes wide. She closed the box, she had opened, and held its edges with her hand. Not removing his eyes from her, Draco moved towards Astoria. He placed his hands on the lid, of the same box she was holding, and leaned towards her and to his surprise, she did the same. Unfortunately perfect moments don't last long; the box Draco had placed his hands on had dropped by the pressure of his hands and with box even he fell, just inches before their lips met.

Astoria let out a hearty laugh and even Draco couldn't help but laugh with her. "Idiot box!" he exclaimed.

He looked at her, again, but this time they did not have any boxes interrupting them. Astoria's laughter subsided yet she was still smiling. He moved his hand to brush the strand of hair off her face and then gently, cupped her face with it. He swallowed hard, with his other hand, he entwined his fingers with her and then gently placed on his chest, right where his heart was. Their faces moved closer to each other but before their lips closed the gap between them he said, "Smiling is my favorite. You make me smile and that makes you my favorite."

With that, their lips finally met. His strong arms were around her, holding her as close as possible while he bent down and kissed her gently. The soft gentle kiss gradually turned into a deep passionate kiss. Draco's hands slowly moved and got tangled in her hair. He couldn't help but get intoxicated by her, her touch, her lips, her skin and her hair. He noticed her hair was so soft and it smelled great, though he couldn't identify it. The kiss had empowered both of them, they felt as there was no war and no dark lord but just them.

Draco gently parted her lips and slid his tongue in her mouth. She shuddered at the action but eventually she did the same too. Draco moved them, in a very slow pace towards the wall. His hands were holding her waist firmly Slowly, after what seemed like a life time, they broke apart. Their eyes still closed, their breath deep, their faces flushed and their heart beat elevated. They opened their eyes and smiled at each other. Draco was mindlessly moving his hand up and down her hand.

Suddenly, realization hit Draco. _What have I done! _He thought. He moved away from her and rested his head in his hands. _What have I done! They'll kill her, they'll kill us. I have risked her life. She knows everything and... No, I wouldn't let anything happen to her. But what should I do? What should I... its the only option, _he thought. He looked up and saw her looking at him, concern for him filling her eyes.

"Draco," she said.

He shook his head and with a deep breath took his wand out and pointed towards her. Her emotions changed suddenly, fear had enclosed her eyes, she was shaking and she didn't have any wand. When she had started following Draco, she had forgotten her wand on the arm chair she had been occupying.

Draco's eyes filled with tears, he gripped his wand tightly and yelled, "_Stupefy!" _The spell had slammed Astoria in the huge pile of boxes and she had lost consciousness. Draco moved and sat next to her face, "I am so sorry, I am doing this for your safety and I hope you can understand that some day." He pointed his wand towards her, once again and whispered,

"_Obliviate." _

His plan had worked. He had to carry Astoria out of the room of requirement back to the common room. They had been out for a long time; therefore no one had been there when they reached. He had placed her on the arm chair she had been occupying and had left her there because he couldn't go near the girls dormitory.

So, when she looked at him the next day during breakfast, she gave his a look indicating that she hated him. His plan had worked, she didn't remember a thing.

He couldn't forgive himself. While had he walked down the Astronomy tower, following the death eaters, he had seen Astoria, who was fighting with the DA, and she had never ever given him more disgusted look in his life. She hated him. Why wouldn't she? He had just disarmed the Greatest Wizard in the world, Albus Dumbledore, but he couldn't possibly kill him. He was too scared.

He should've accepted his offer, Dumbledore's offer to protect his family. He had never felt more disgusted with himself. He wanted to die. He was ashamed with himself and this feeling would never go.

He was sitting in his room, on his bed. They had reached home, almost an hour ago, and he was currently waiting for the Dark Lord to arrive. He heard a knock on the door, he got up and opened it. Outside, he saw his aunt, waiting to take him to the Dark Lord. She grabbed his robes and dragged him towards the dining hall. On reaching there, she threw him on the floor, near the feet of the Dark Lord.

"Ah.. Draco.. as expected you have failed," he said coldly. Draco didn't dare to do anything but look towards the floor. The dark lord continued, "I didn't expect you to do it anyway. You are even more useless than your father," all the death eaters around him snickered. Draco heard a sob; he looked up and saw his mother, her eyes red with all the crying.

"Now.. what should we do to punish him?" he asked the other death eaters, "What do you think I should do, Narcissa?"

Trying to control her sobs, she weakly managed to say, "Please, leave him. He's just a boy."

"Just a boy!" the dark lord let out a hearty laugh, "I don't think so." He raise his wand towards him and yelled, _"Crucio!"_

The spell hit Draco right on the chest, the pain was so intense, so all-consuming, that he no longer knew where he was... white-hot knives were piercing every inch of his skin, he was screaming more loudly than he'd ever screamed in his life. Still, the dark lord didn't stop. He kept yelling the curse at him, again and again. Yet after what felt like a lifetime, he stopped. Draco could still feel the pain. He opened his eyes and saw the worst sight he could ever witness. His mother was crying so loudly, she was screaming his name and yelling that he was just a small boy. But she stopped when Fenrir Greyback came near her and slapped her hard. She fell on the floor and instantly fainted. That was the last thing he could remember before he himself was enclosed with darkness around his eyes.

* * *

Draco closed his eyes and took few deep breaths to calm him down. He looked at his kids, who were hastily wiping their tears away, and said, "Your mum still have the scar of the back, on the place where she got hit by dozens of boxes and your grandmother still have the scar on her left cheek, it's very small and you wouldn't know it was even there, if I hadn't told you."

"They have learnt to accept that it is there. I admire both of them, everyday because of that and they admire me because we all have learnt to accept our wounds. Our bodies are filled with them yet we don't hate them because they make us human."

"I had hurt the two most important people in my life, at that time and I couldn't forgive myself. When I woke up the next day, I realized that I had hurt the girl I love and my mum. That's when I truly became the owner of a lonely heart."

* * *

**Song: Andrew Belle- Open your eyes**

**Thank you everyone who are following my story, I love you all. I'll love you even more if you please leave a few reviews. Just a few.  
Thank you . (^_^)**


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